Qatar will return to the big international spotlight this weekend when the Formula One world championship, the reigning class of motor racing, is very likely to be decided.
Max Verstappen will secure his third consecutive drivers’ world championship at the Losail circuit north of the capital Doha. Verstappen can celebrate the championship already after Saturday’s sprint race, because the Dutchman, who dominated the season, needs three points from the sprint race, i.e. sixth place, to decide the championship.
At the end of December, Qatar was very much on the surface, when the soccer World Cup was played in the country. At that time, there was a lot of talk about how Qatar tramples human rights to a significant extent.
The situation has not changed in less than a year.
– Serious human rights violations were seen in Qatar before the World Cup, during the World Cup and, sadly, they have also been seen after the World Cup, Amnesty UK’s head of social and economic justice who is familiar with Qatar Stephen Cockburn seal.
– When you think about the fact that Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world, not enough development has been seen yet.
Urheilu summarizes the problem around four things.
1st problem: No wages have been received, it is difficult to leave the country
Head of the domestic operations of the human rights and labor organization SASK Ellinora Vesala has been following the situation in Qatar closely. Vesala describes that the amount of work in Qatar has radically decreased in the construction and service sectors after the World Cup. Many employees are now without work and income. According to Vesala, they are on empty waiting for new projects.
– There are many employees who are still waiting for their salary receivables even from the period before the Games and even stricter regulation of Fifa projects. They had to have even stricter control over salary payments. All workers without income rely on the help of informal worker groups. They are waiting for the work situation to improve and for them to receive their salary, says Vesala.
According to Vesala, it is not possible for migrant workers to leave Qatar, although after the new labor law reforms, leaving the country is no longer controlled so much. Employers are no longer allowed to confiscate passports, but many cannot afford to go back to their homeland.
– Many have salary receivables and are in debt. They depend on getting paid. Returning home is not possible. The work situation in Finland is not so good either. Many people should wait for the receipts from Qatar, says Vesala.
2nd problem: New laws are broken, not properly enforced or implemented
Both Vesala and Cockburn see the fact that the revised labor laws in Qatar are violated or not properly enforced as a big problem.
– The key problem is that the revised labor laws have not been implemented. People have not been held accountable. We constantly receive complaints that employers do not care about labor legislation. Employers force overtime, don’t pay properly or don’t give permission to change jobs. They misbehave. It has few consequences, Cockburn sums up.
According to Cockburn, Amnesty is still aware of dozens of new serious human rights violations.
– The guards have not been paid properly. There are domestic workers who are forced to work in huge numbers. Very little has been done to correct the wrongs, says Cockburn.
According to Vesala, the new laws have not actually been cancelled, but they are being broken more and more all the time.
– For example, occupational safety criteria are slipping. Inspections are only mostly formal. Permits to change jobs have also started to be withheld again. Employees are not allowed to be transferred to another employer, says Vesala.
One example of breaking laws is the law defining work in the heat.
– Heat is an ever-growing problem. One of the legislative reforms was that no work should be done during the hottest time in the middle of the day. At the moment, however, what is being done is to break the law and not stop work. We’d rather pay the fines for the violation, Vesala illustrates.
– The law is too weak. It still doesn’t protect against working in 45 degree heat, Cockburn describes.
3rd problem: No much talked about compensation
Even before the World Cup, human rights organizations demanded from the International Football Association Fifa and the State of Qatar that a compensation fund should be established for workers injured in the World Cup construction work and for the families of dead workers.
However, this has not happened. Amnesty director Cockburn hopes that by the end of the year it would be known what Fifa is doing.
– Our fear is that Fifa will only move the decision forward and try to deny its responsibility. We hope that Fifa will take this seriously and show that they can be a responsible sporting body. Fifa would look after those who have made it a very rich sporting organisation, says Cockburn.
4th problem: The voice of the employees is not heard
Vesala had been in contact with an acquaintance in Qatar last week. He had also opened up about his worries to Vesala.
– He felt that people’s interest has turned elsewhere. And no one cares what happens there anymore. The voice of the employee representatives is no longer heard. Before the World Cup, however, there were various forums and meetings where employees could report grievances and concerns directly to the authorities. Such meetings have not been organized since the World Cup, says Vesala.
The concern is especially what will happen if you report the human rights violations you experienced in Qatar.
– Those who speak about the problems experience harassment, arrests and deportations. The possibility of bringing up problems in Qatar is currently quite small, says Vesala.
According to Cockburn, Qatar’s progress in human rights issues has now stalled. Vesala hopes that the situation will improve in the future.
– We are hopeful that the rights of workers in Qatar will improve in small steps. Qatar could be a trend setter for other Persian Gulf countries. A lot of groundwork for the reforms has been done there. If Qatar still invested in the implementation and monitoring of legal reforms, Qatar could use its example to guide the direction of the Persian Gulf countries, says Vesala.
This is the message the experts send to the F1 crowd
In September 2021, the State of Qatar and F1 signed a ten-year agreement to organize the F1 races. Last year, the F1 race was not organized, as the country focused on organizing the World Cup football.
This weekend is the first race of the ten-year contract. According to media reports, Qatar pays the F1 organization 55 million US dollars annually for hosting rights.
Human rights experts want the F1 people to take Qatar’s human rights problems seriously.
– We have repeated it several times with the Formula 1s. For Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Azerbaijan and Qatar. We are not saying that these countries should not hold games. But F1 should be aware of where it runs the races. F1 should make accurate risk assessments in human rights cases. F1 needs to highlight human rights violations when they drive in countries like this, Amnesty’s Cockburn says.
According to Cockburn, the F1 series should highlight problems in countries that trample on human rights, when the sports community, for example, holds discussions with the country’s authorities. According to Cockburn, F1 series and F1 teams should also ask the subcontractors they use, for example, how their employees’ salaries are paid and whether they live in good conditions.
Vesala reminds, for his part from the formula one’s own human rights policy.
– Its lyrics are quite loose and open to interpretation. However, it challenges the Formula Ones and obliges them to at least investigate what kind of human rights risks are involved in competing in Qatar, Vesala describes.
He highlights, for example, one professional group, the abuse of which Amnesty’s Cockburn also mentioned, i.e. security guards.
– Security guards are needed at every public event. Significant human rights violations have been reported specifically for them. At least in this sense, the International Automobile Federation and the Formula 1 drivers have an obligation to investigate human rights violations, says Vesala.
Drivers have power and there is no bridle on it
Traditionally, F1 drivers have been very careful to take a stand on human rights violations in their racing countries. One exception has been the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
When F1 raced in Qatar for the last and first time in 2021, Hamilton described Qatar as one of the worst violators of human rights and stated that the sporting community has a responsibility to raise awareness about issues such as this. Hamilton raced in Qatar wearing a helmet with the colors of the rainbow.
According to Cockburn, it is a personal choice of each driver how they highlight human rights violations in their racing countries. However, according to the Amnesty director, talking about them can be really effective.
– Lewis Hamilton is a good example. His outings get huge publicity. That can be a positive thing. I would encourage drivers to learn from the situation in Qatar and understand the context of why they race in these countries, says Cockburn.
There is also another side to the coin. Cockburn would like to see F1 drivers who speak out about issues not punished. In December, the international automobile association FIA decided on a new rule according to which F1 drivers should not make political, religious or personal declarations without the umbrella organization’s permission.
– F1 must support the drivers if they decide to speak about human rights violations. F1 needs to make sure it’s safe for drivers to talk about these issues. There should be no sanctions or consequences, Cockburn concludes.