Brussels highlights Qatar’s labor reforms to the all-important European Parliament, reports EFE
Today, Monday, the European Commission highlighted the progress Qatar has made in recent years in terms of workers’ rights in light of its celebration of the World Cup, in contrast to a chamber in the European Parliament that condemned the celebration of the tournament in this country. Almost unanimously.
The European Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, noted during a parliamentary debate on the human rights situation in Qatar that the Qatari legislator was a “world champion” during the preparations for the tournament, and pointed to figures from the International Labor Organization registering. 50 deaths and more than 500 injuries during the construction of these infrastructures in 2020.
It was the first country in the Persian Gulf to dismantle a model of labor exploitation that allows for monitoring of migrant workers and has introduced a “non-discriminatory minimum wage,” said the commissioner, who emphasized that it was the first country in the Persian Gulf to dismantle a model of labor exploitation that allows for monitoring of migrant workers.
Kyriakides was convinced that the staging of the World Cup and “evidence of existing deficiencies” precipitated “labor reforms” in the country, but noted that there were “many outstanding challenges” in collecting data on deaths and injuries during construction. Playgrounds, paying salaries to thousands of migrant workers or, without elaborating, “LGBT rights”.
“Qatar now has an opportunity to show the world that it is ready and willing to continue on the path of openness, tolerance and modernization,” he concluded.
