New research by Amnesty International has revealed that hundreds of migrant workers are still waiting in vain for unpaid wages and compensation in Qatar, despite Doha's promises to improve workers’ rights.
Hundreds of migrant workers employed by three construction and cleaning companies have given up on justice and returned home penniless since March 2018, the research highlighted.
Amnesty said it wrote to all three companies to present its findings but received no response.
According to Amnesty, ever since Qatar was awarded the right to hold the 2022 World Cup, the treatment of around 2 million migrant workers driving the country's economy has been under the spotlight.
Commenting on the issue, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director of Global Issues, Stephen Cockburn said: “Despite the significant promises of reform which Qatar has made ahead of the 2022 World Cup, it remains a playground for unscrupulous employers. Migrant workers often go to Qatar in the hope of giving their families a better life; instead many people return home penniless after spending months chasing their wages, with too little help from the systems that are supposed to protect them.”
This still happens despite the Qatari authorities having established new committees intended to rapidly resolve labour disputes.
"Last year the committees received more than 6,000 complaints, most of which had not been resolved at the end of the year," Amnesty stated on its official website.
