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Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'

theguardian.com

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Re: Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'

#131

Post by contingencies »

selmnoo wrote: post #100
vowelless wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much. Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans and many, many Indians. The proximity to the subcontinent makes it easy to bring in the labor force. Growing up in the middle east, I knew people whose passports were taken by their sponsor so that they couldn't leave the country. House maids are very badly treated in particular (physical abuse sometimes leading to death).

I want to give some input from the other side here. I was born in Pakistan. I got out of there at age 12. It took my family about 8 years to get all the paperwork in order to leave the place. I vividly remember, when I was about 8, a lady coming to our house to sell some pomegranates. It's what a lot of poor people do there to get by, kind of like this: http://transworldexpedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/D...…

Right on. Things are bad for people in much of the world, not just South Asia. A Nepali girl who is a friend of a friend of ours is basically homeless, penniless and stranded after a romantic overseas trip ended up with her being mistreated by her boyfriend. She is staying with us for the next week until a flight home. In the same week, a young boy we know's father was attacked by thieves with knives who slit his throat and hands to make off with minor cash. He was so deeply psychologically shocked that he has turned so far on to hard drugs he is completely ignoring his own family. After seeing the financial and emotional stress caring for the boy is placing on other people I promised to go and try to discuss him out of it: that's crisis #2 to solve this afternoon! The developing world sure is amazing, but poverty and pain can be hard to escape.

Re: Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'

#132

Post by contingencies »

everest81 wrote: post #98

Some perspective from Nepali side, even though I don't reside there now I go back quite often. Airport in Nepal has separate line/queue for emigration for these workers going to arab countries like Qatar. Every day 100s of such workers emigrate out of Nepal, all carrying dream of earning a decent living and sending money back for family. As much as it pains me to say this, some of those workers have no better option…

Agreed. FIFA is unlikely to suddenly change though: it, like the numerous ultra-conservative non-state totalitarian oil-fuelled sheikhdom-hells of the Middle East, is like the rest of the mass media entertainment industry merely a symptom of the real problem, which is global capitalism. The US and Europe benefit too much to make any concrete change. They're all hypocrites. We have to make change ourselves by supporting one another.

Re: Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'

#133

Post by shalmanese »

suhailpatel wrote: post #32

A very similar article was written 4 years ago in The Independent about Dubai and as far as I know nothing has changed. Definitely worth a read to find out about a very similar culture of modern day slavery 'The Dark Side of Dubai': http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/johann-hari...

Some expats have raised doubts over this article: http://www.thenational.ae/business/media/expat-takes-uk-jour...

Re: Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'

#134

Post by jessaustin »

ihsw wrote: post #119
jessaustin wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...as it stands there is no such evidence of that. There have certainly been allegations of it, including on this comment page. Why should we assume the best possible interpretation of how Qatari projects might be staffed with manual labor? Based on the little I've learned, any assumptions I make are more likely to go in the other direction.

Personally I refuse to entertain conjecture and hearsay, so I have no interest in making any assumptions or interpretations.

Maybe I'm dense, but your comment above reads to me as if you're assuming: "nothing to see here, move along!"

Re: Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'

#135

Post by contingencies »

morgante wrote: post #22

As someone who lives in the Emirates, I have to object to the allegation of "slaves." This is not slavery. It's indentured servitude, which is definitely distressing but not quite of the same character. Most importantly, in the talks I've had with workers, the vast majority of them still are happy to have these jobs despite the conditions. They're paid an order of magnitude more than they make in Nepal and if you go…

For a mere 20 year old, you sure speak with advanced lashings of ponce and confidence on subjects of which you know not.

Re: Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'

#136

Post by selmnoo »

contingencies wrote: post #131
selmnoo wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to give some input from the other side here. I was born in Pakistan. I got out of there at age 12. It took my family about 8 years to get all the paperwork in order to leave the place. I vividly remember, when I was about 8, a lady coming to our house to sell some pomegranates. It's what a lot of poor people do there to get by, kind of like this: http://transworldexpedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/D...…

Right on. Things are bad for people in much of the world, not just South Asia. A Nepali girl who is a friend of a friend of ours is basically homeless, penniless and stranded after a romantic overseas trip ended up with her being mistreated by her boyfriend. She is staying with us for the next week until a flight home. In the same week, a young boy we know's father was attacked by thieves with knives who slit his thr…

Thanks for helping these folks out, you're making the world a better place by helping them in their time of misfortune.

Re: Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'

#137

Post by tantalor »

wh0car3s wrote: post #120
tantalor wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do the terms "winter" and "summer" in this context only refer to the northern hemisphere? Was Australia's "summer" bid to place the tournament in their winter? Presumably they have better weather in the winter.

Yep, it is based on the northern hemisphere. Generally, the football season starts from Aug to May (in Europe) so the WC is usually held on June-July. AFAIK, Australia's bid was for June-July 2022 and if FIFA changes the date, there is talk that Football Federation Australia will ask for recompense on their bid http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/17/world-cup-20... >.

It sounds like the season is not the reason for the complaint, but that the tournament would interfere with local competition.

So confused by this, why would they ask for their World Cup pitch costs as compensation? That ship has sailed.

Re: Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'

#138

Post by philwelch »

tantalor wrote: post #137
wh0car3s wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, it is based on the northern hemisphere. Generally, the football season starts from Aug to May (in Europe) so the WC is usually held on June-July. AFAIK, Australia's bid was for June-July 2022 and if FIFA changes the date, there is talk that Football Federation Australia will ask for recompense on their bid http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/17/world-cup-20... >.

It sounds like the season is not the reason for the complaint, but that the tournament would interfere with local competition. So confused by this, why would they ask for their World Cup pitch costs as compensation? That ship has sailed.

The argument is that they bid for a World Cup scheduled for June and July of 2022, so if the World Cup is not in fact scheduled for those dates, it was fraudulent for FIFA to solicit bids under the premise that it is.

Re: Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'

#139

Post by guard-of-terra »

selmnoo wrote: post #100
vowelless wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much. Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans and many, many Indians. The proximity to the subcontinent makes it easy to bring in the labor force. Growing up in the middle east, I knew people whose passports were taken by their sponsor so that they couldn't leave the country. House maids are very badly treated in particular (physical abuse sometimes leading to death).

I want to give some input from the other side here. I was born in Pakistan. I got out of there at age 12. It took my family about 8 years to get all the paperwork in order to leave the place. I vividly remember, when I was about 8, a lady coming to our house to sell some pomegranates. It's what a lot of poor people do there to get by, kind of like this: http://transworldexpedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/D...…

I wondef it it is a public figure how much money do workers send home from middle east? If it's big you can expect at least some expats to fare OK.

Re: Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'

#140

Post by DominikR »

yapcguy wrote: post #31
vowelless wrote: post #19

As referenced to in the article and highly relevant, the Kafala System [1] which has roots in Islamic adoption jurisprudence [2]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kafala_system [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_adoptional_jurisprudenc...

Wow, only 6% of the labor force is made up of locals. Basically the Qataris sit back and let workers from the rest of the world do 94% of the country's work. Which begs the question, what exactly do Qataris do all day?! >"Under the state-run kafala sponsorship system, workers are also unable to change jobs or leave the country without their sponsor company's permission." (Guardian) > About 1.2 million foreign workers…

> Which begs the question, what exactly do Qataris do all day?!

Raping or torturing their house maids/slaves.

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