8. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Preparations for the 2022 World Cup continue to rely on the labour of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, many of whom have suffered so that the world can enjoy its most watched international sporting event. FIFA failed to take sufficient action to prevent this suffering when it could have done so, and in fact enabled it by choosing to award the World Cup to a country where widespread labour abuses were clearly foreseeable, without imposing any conditions to protect workers’ rights. However, FIFA has also learnt many lessons since it made the award in 2010 and has taken some unprecedented steps, such as producing the first ever sustainability strategy for a World Cup based on a systematic assessment of human rights risks. FIFA still has time to prevent at least some further abuses in the final run-up to the World Cup and during its delivery. However, it will not be in a position to prevent them all, and it definitely cannot erase the suffering of the past. In line with the UN Guiding Principles and its own commitment to remediate abuses to which it has contributed, FIFA must now ensure that any abuses related to the tournament that it has not prevented are fully remediated. Where existing mechanisms are incapable of delivering full reparation, new mechanisms should be set up with both Qatar and FIFA promptly stepping in to provide remedy. The 2022 World Cup will be far from exemplary in terms of preventing harm, but it can still represent a turning point in FIFA’s quest to respect human rights if all workers who have suffered abuses in the preparation, staging and delivery of its flagship event receive adequate reparation. In the next six months leading up to the 2022 World Cup, Qatar must stringently enforce its labour laws and press ahead with its reform plans to protect migrant workers’ rights and prevent them from falling victim to further abuses. Simultaneously, it must work to remediate all harm already caused that remains unaddressed or poorly addressed whether related to World Cup projects or not. This includes working with FIFA, Q22, the Supreme Committee and other relevant domestic and international actors to ensure remedy for abuses suffered by migrant workers engaged in World Cup-related projects and services who have so far been unable to obtain full and adequate reparation. Alongside efforts to prevent further abuses of migrant workers engaged in World Cup-related projects and services, Qatar and FIFA must now: •
Ensure that all migrant workers who suffered harm because of their involvement in World Cuprelated work have access to full and adequate reparation in line with international human rights law and standards. Such reparation should extend to the migrant workers’ families where applicable.
•
Urgently initiate structured discussions with all relevant stakeholders – including, in particular, workers, global trade unions, ILO representatives, civil society organizations and individual labour and human rights experts – with a view to designing and implementing a targeted and effective remediation programme for abused migrant workers engaged in World Cup-related projects and services. The programme would also cover past abuses that have so far not been adequately remediated and extend beyond abuses in the context of Supreme Committee projects.
As part of this programme, Qatar and FIFA should: o
Review and strengthen existing remedial mechanisms in consultation with workers to ensure they can deliver effective remedy in line with international human rights law.
PREDICTABLE AND PREVENTABLE WHY FIFA AND QATAR SHOULD REMEDY THE 2022 WORLD CUP ABUSES Amnesty International
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