mMigrant staff from West Africa say they’ve been left stranded, destitute and jobless in Qatar simply 100 days after the top of the World Cup, in spite of claims that the match would go away a legacy of higher staff’ rights within the nation.
The Guardian has interviewed males with so-called “free visas”, below which they should in finding their very own jobs, who say they’ve been out of labor for months. Some can slightly have the funds for to devour. Others are so in need of cash they’ve been pressured to plead for lend a hand from their impoverished households again house.
“I haven’t eaten for two days,” says Aboubacar*, from Guinea, who hasn’t labored because the World Cup. “Ironic, isn’t it?” says some other. “We are in the richest country in the world, but we are begging for money from Africa.”
The Guardian spoke to different staff from Nigeria who’ve been duped into paying huge sums to go into Qatar on Hayya playing cards, the allow required to talk over with the rustic all through the World Cup.
They are falsely promised by way of rogue recruitment brokers in their very own nation that Hayya playing cards may also be transformed into paintings visas on arrival. The validity of the cardboard was once lately prolonged till 2024, however it could simplest be used for tourism, leaving the sufferers deep in debt, not able to paintings legally and suffering to go back house.
Qatar has confronted serious complaint for the abusive prerequisites continued by way of many low-paid staff within the nation, together with salary robbery, unlawful recruitment charges and accidents and deaths development stadiums and infrastructure.
The Qatari government and Fifa again and again promised the match can be a catalyst for exchange, with the Fifa president Gianni Infantino calling Qatar’s growth on staff’ rights “incredible”, however the fact suggests migrant staff proceed to undergo harsh residing and dealing prerequisites.
Warnings from the Nigerian embassy in Doha in regards to the misuse of the Hayya card didn’t achieve males akin to Hakeem, who offered all his property, together with his automotive, to boost nearly 2m naira (£3,556) to pay an agent who supplied him with a card and the promise of a task when he reached Doha. Instead, Hakeem says, he “used me and dumped me here”.
“I used to eat three square meals at home but here it’s difficult to get one. I have been calling friends in Nigeria to help me. I have not earned a single rial since I entered the country. We’re all regretting coming here,” he says.
Workers on “free visas” enter the country on a work visa under a local sponsor, but must find their own jobs. The scheme is illegal but highly lucrative, for the sponsors who secure the visas and for agents in labour-sending countries who sell them on to young men desperate for work. Because the job roles do not exist the visas, and therefore the workers’ right to remain, are actually illegal.
Many of the affected workers appear to come from West Africa – particularly Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Niger – and all arrived in debt having paid huge fees for the visas.
“Free visas” give workers the flexibility to choose their own jobs and negotiate higher wages, but they also leave them in a more precarious position. Many were already struggling in the run-up to the World Cup when most large construction projects were put on hold, but since the tournament ended the job market appears to have collapsed.
“There is genuinely no work here now. No one is recruiting. There’s only so many highways and roads that they need,” says a source with years of experience in Qatar’s construction sector.
Many find themselves trapped; unable to survive without work but reluctant to return home before they have paid off their debts.
Some workers have fallen foul of Qatar’s immigration rules, often because they cannot afford to renew their visa or pay for an ID card, which is required to work legally, and so live under the constant threat of arrest and deportation.
In the Al Mansoura neighbourhood, a short drive from the luxury hotels and shops of central Doha, rundown old apartment blocks are packed with low-wage workers.
On the top floor of a block, Ahmad shares a tiny room with nine others. They sleep in four bunk beds packed into the room. Two more sleep on mattresses on the floor. A few packets of kaboos – flat breads similar to pitta – lie on the floor. “That’s what we mostly eat. Kaboos and plain rice,” he says.
Ahmad arrived in Qatar from Nigeria with 3 pals the use of Hayya playing cards organized by way of an agent. They borrowed cash from family and friends to pay eye-watering sums for the promise of a task; 1.1m naira prematurely with an extra 600,000 naira (£1,070) due once they began incomes.
The agent had confident Ahmad that he may convert the cardboard into a piece visa on arrival, however by the point he learned that was once a lie, it was once too past due. “I want to go home, but I don’t want to go home,” says Ahmad. “The money I owe is keeping me here. I don’t need anything for myself. I just need to be able to settle my debts.”
Without the proper documentation, it is almost impossible to find a job. “No one will allow us to work. Even those with a visa are not working. People from home are sending me money for rent and food. I came here to help them, but they are helping me,” he says.
Qatar’s international media office said it is illegal for companies in Qatar to charge recruitment fees and the government works closely with the business community to ensure compliance. To reduce the risk of fees being charged, Qatar has opened 14 visa centers in labour-sending countries. Free visas are also illegal, and when notified, the government punishes recruitment agencies or sponsors involved in the scheme.
“Workers who entered Qatar on free visas and are facing difficulty are encouraged to seek immediate assistance from the Ministry of Labor to resolve their situation,” added a spokesperson.
In the 2 months after the World Cup ultimate, greater than 50,000 staff effectively modified jobs, in keeping with the spokesperson for Qatar’s world media workplace.
“The legacy of the 2022 World Cup on Qatar’s labor market is clear for all to see. Hundreds of thousands of workers have benefited from the reforms, such as the removal of exit permits and the freedom to change jobs, the introduction of the region’s first non-discriminatory minimum wage, improved health and safety standards, and better access to justice,” the spokesperson stated.
, Some names were modified