The "working charter", ordered by football's world governing body FIFA, comes after growing criticism from international organisations on the welfare of migrant workers helping to construct the stadia needed ahead of the Qatar World Cup.

This new charter will, according to the Supreme Committee, "set clear guidelines that protect the rights of workers throughout the entire chain of contracting, from recruitment to repatriation".

These guidelines are said to "address some of the most critical concerns highlighted in recent reports about working and living conditions of workers in Qatar's construction sector".

They include: the setting up of bank accounts upon arrival to Qatar to allow for full and on time payment; a telephone hotline for workers to raise grievances and report concerns; a minimum of three weeks' paid annual holiday based on a 48-hour week that cannot exceed eight hours per day; and comprehensive specifications for worker accommodations, setting clear guidelines for everything from the number of beds per room to a minimum standard for cleanliness and hygiene.

Hundreds of Nepalese migrant workers queue to receive official documentation to leave Nepal in order to work in Qatar despite hundreds of workers dying during the construction of the 2022 World Cup infrastructure ©Getty Images



Human rights group Amnesty International has said the charter "represents a positive - if only partial - effort to prevent some of the worst abuses from taking place on building projects for the 2022 World Cup".

However, Amnesty researcher James Lynch added: "While this may be a good starting point, the charter will only address the concerns of a relatively small proportion of migrant workers in Qatar - those involved in the construction of stadiums and training grounds.

"The standards will not apply to thousands of other migrant workers in Qatar, including those who will build the wider infrastructure to support the hosting of the World Cup, including roads, hotels and railways.

"The reality is that all foreign workers across the country are still subject to the restrictive sponsorship system which facilitates abuse."

This sponsorship system – the kafala system – has caused major concerns for human rights organisations throughout the construction process leading up to Qatar 2022, causing many to call for fundamental change in the law or even its abolition.

The system requires all unskilled labourers to have an in-country sponsor, usually their employer, who is responsible for their visa and legal status.

This, according to rights groups, creates easy opportunities for the sponsors to exploit workers, as many employers take away passports and abuse their workers with little chance of legal repercussions.

Following the release of the new charter, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) released a statement saying that "Qatar's new World Cup worker welfare standards do not deliver fundamental rights for workers and merely reinforce the discredited kafala system of employer control over workers."

ITUC secretary general Sharan Burrow has called the new Workers' Welfare Standards "a sham" ©Getty Images



Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the ITUC, highlighted this view, adding: "Forced labour continues in Qatar today with no workers' rights.

"No migrant worker can be protected by any safety standard unless they have the right to collectively speak out about wages and conditions at work.

"Not a single change has been made or recommended to Qatar's laws that deny workers their fundamental rights.

"No workplace voice or representative is allowed for migrant workers in Qatar.

"A worker welfare officer appointed by the employer is not substitute for a duly nominated worker representative.

"The promise to provide freedom of movement for workers is a sham, as Qatar enforces segregation of workers on a racial basis.

"These standards are built on an old, discredited self-monitoring system which has failed in the past in Bangladesh and other countries where thousands of workers have died.

"With no legal compliance mechanism such as a tribunal, there is no possibility of enforcing even these provisions."

FIFA executive Theo Zwanziger, who is working with both the ITUC and Supreme Committee of Delivery and Legacy, will present the Welfare Standards report at the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday (February 13) as the parliament's human rights sub-committee gets set to address the issues surrounding migrant workers.

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