Nepali civil society groups urge FIFA president to stop dismissing migrant workers’ compensation claims

Over three dozen Nepali civil society organisations have today published an open letter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino calling on him to ‘stop looking the other way’ while migrant workers are denied compensation after having suffered abuses in Qatar.

The organisations have displayed their message on billboards across Kathmandu, including at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), where workers from Qatar often return without their wages and the bodies of deceased migrant workers are regularly repatriated.

The letter highlights how migrant workers, who have returned to Nepal, are unable to access a compensation fund set up by Qatar in 2018 to reimburse stolen wages, and how bereaved families are unable to receive compensation if the causes of their loved ones’ deaths are not investigated.

“We have come together to call on Gianni Infantino to make good on FIFA’s promises to respect workers’ rights and agree to compensate workers who have suffered abuses and families who have lost loved ones,” said executive director of Pravasi Nepali Coordination Committee (PNCC)  Som Prasad Lamichhane.

“We know the real human costs of the abuses faced by so many workers in Qatar,” he said, adding that families have spiralled into poverty, children have been taken out of school, and workers forced to migrate again to pay off debts. “FIFA cannot be blind to this reality and must act to make things right.”

Around 400,000 workers from Nepal are employed across a range of sectors in Qatar, including playing a huge part in building the vast infrastructure projects required to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

While remittances from working abroad play a major part in Nepal’s economy, those who have travelled to work in the Gulf and elsewhere have regularly suffered a range of labour abuses. Nepali workers typically pay illegal recruitment fees of over $1,000 to secure their jobs, and human rights organisations have regularly documented cases of forced labour and unpaid wages, including at sites linked to the World Cup. 

Workers have also lost lives due to dangerous working conditions, and their deaths have rarely been investigated. A peer-reviewed study found that the deaths of at least 200 Nepali construction workers could have been prevented between 2009 and 2017 with adequate protection from extreme heat. 

In recent years Qatar has introduced a number of reforms to strengthen labour laws and opened a new visa centre in Nepal aiming to reduce abuses. Despite some progress, abuses persist on a significant scale. 

“There is a huge danger that when the final whistle is blown on the World Cup, the contribution and sacrifice of so many migrant workers will be forgotten, and their claims for justice and compensation ignored,” said director of Amnesty International Nepal Nirajan Thapaliya.

“If FIFA wants to show respect towards the people who made this tournament possible, Gianni Infantino should finally agree to ensure workers and their families are compensated,” he said, adding, “Their claims must not be dismissed any longer.”

Since May, a global coalition of human rights organisations, trade unions and fans groups have called on FIFA and Qatar to set up a remediation programme that would compensate workers and invest in programmes to prevent future abuses. The call has been supported by 12 Football Associations, four FIFA sponsors, and opinion polls have shown that it is supported by a large majority of the public in 15 countries. 

However, FIFA has continued to refuse to compensate workers. On Monday, a coalition of international human rights organisations criticised FIFA for ‘misleading the world’ on workers’ compensation. Despite FIFA officials having said they were working on a plan to ensure workers were compensated, on the eve of the tournament Gianni Infantino passed the buck and said that anyone who had suffered abuses should simply ‘contact the relevant authorities to seek due recompense’ from Qatar’s existing compensation fund.

However, this mechanism remains inaccessible to those who have already left the country, caps the amount that can be paid to each worker, and will not support families of workers whose deaths may have been wrongly attributed to ‘natural causes’ because investigations were not carried out.

The coalition called on Gianni Infantino to use a newly-announced Legacy Fund, to compensate workers and establish an independent migrant workers’ centre as requested by trade unions such as Building and Wood Workers’ International. The size of the proposed fund is not yet known, and is currently intended to support educational projects and a planned ‘labour excellence hub’.

Central bank warns of action against using mobile wallets for gambling purpose

After noticing suspicious transactions via electronic payments gateways during the ongoing world cup, the central bank today warned people not to take part in gambling activities via their mobile wallets. The central bank has also warned that it will freeze bank accounts and mobile wallets, if anyone is found gambling.

“Gambling and betting activities are illegal,” the central bank notice reads, informing the public not to participate in transactions of this nature. “If anyone is found involved in such activities, legal action will be taken against the concerned individual or group including the freezing of their bank accounts and mobile wallets.”

The central bank has also ordered licensed organisations to make arrangements to prevent the payment of gambling and betting-related illegal activities through bank accounts, mobile banking, mobile wallets.

Consumers have to pay extra to watch FIFA World Cup

Nepali television viewers have to pay extra to watch the world cup football unlike previous years, according to an apex court decision.

The Supreme Court today issued a ruling in support of imposing extra charges on customers to give them access to the live broadcast of the FIFA World Cup 2022.

An advertising agency, Media Hub had earlier claiming that it has obtained exclusive broadcast rights to the FIFA World Cup, has decided to collect Rs 565 extra (including VAT) per set-top box stating that domestic advertisements do not cover their costs. 

But advocates Kishor Poudel and Anupam Bhattarai filed a writ petition stating that Nepalis didn’t have to pay extra to watch previous World Cups. They also claimed that the additional fees this time was unlawful. On November 8, a single bench of Justice Prakashman Singh Raut has issued the interim order asking the concerned not to charge the customers until the final verdict is made.

But justice duo Prakash Kumar Dhungana and Manoj Kumar Sharma today said that there is no need to continue the short-term interim order issued on November 8. “Watching the World Cup football by paying extra is not a regular but an optional issue for the viewers,” reads the Supreme Court verdict. The matches will be shown live on Himalaya TV.

There also appears to be an option in the agreement between Himalaya TV and Media Hub that some important matches would be broadcast free of cost, which means that customers, who do not pay extra too can watch at least four important matches. 

“We welcome the court’s verdict,” said marketing director at Media Hub Siddhartha Dhital. “All the work for broadcasting the world cup matches had been halted after the court’s interim order,” he said, adding that they will now work 24/7 to ensure the broadcast. 

The 2022 FIFA World Cup – to be hosted by Qatar – kicks off from November 21, and will continue until December 18. A total of 64 matches will be played during a month-long championship. The first match will be played between the host Qatar against Ecuador. Worldwide, billions of soccer fans watch the live coverage of the four-yearly football extravaganza on TV.

According to Dhital, Worldlink and Vianet Communication, two of the leading internet and television services providers, have already signed agreements with Media Hub to broadcast the matches.

Claiming that Media Hub has bid for the broadcast rights for around Rs 250 million for the month-long event, Dhita,l said that an additional Rs 150 million will be spent for promotion and technical support. 

For the first time in history, a Middle Eastern country is hosting the World Cup football. 

According to the international media reports, the Qatar World Cup will be the most expensive event as it will cost around $220 billion to Qatar, some 20 times more than the cost of last World Cup in Russia. Criticising the high prices of the tickets to the World Cup matches football fans around the world accused FIFA.

The most expensive tickets on general sale for the December 18 final at Lusail Stadium cost 5,850 Qatari riyals (£1,179), which is 46 per cent higher than the £807 ticket price for the 2018 final match that France won.

Reuters reports that While fans in Russia paid an average of 214 pounds for a seat, tickets to matches in Qatar cost an average 286 pounds, according to a study by Keller Sports.

Nepal, Qatar vow to clamp down on recruiters charging migrant workers

Qatar and Nepal vowed to clamp down on outsourcers that illegally took money from Qatar-bound Nepali migrant workers.
During a meeting today in Kathmandu with a visiting Qatari delegation led by labour and social welfare minister of Qatar Abdullah Saleh Mubarak Al-Khulaifi, Nepal asked to arrange for free of cost recruiting for Nepali migrant workers.
Nepali side led by state minister for labour Tek Bahadur Gurung asked Qatari counterpart to make it binding for employers to bear the commission paid to the recruiting agencies and agents in order to ensure cost-free hiring of Nepali migrant workers to Qatar.
Nepali migrant workers are forced to pay between Rs 70,000 and Rs 100,000 despite Qatar’s pledge to make recruitment cost-free for migrant workers. Though the government has allowed outsourcers to charge up to Rs 20,000 in fees, many recruiting agencies charge even for free visa and tickets for the second most lucrative destination for Nepali migrant workers.
Qatar has however, categorically said that its laws did not permit foreigners hired to work pay anything in the process.
Qatar – that needs more migrant workers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup projects – said that its companies bear all he expenses involved in hiring a migrant worker.
If any Qatari companies charge to hire migrant workers, they will be punished, Al-Khulaifi said, adding that all hiring and travel expenses for migrant workers are borne by Qatari companies.
But the migrant workers are forced to pay exorbitant fees as the government failed to monitor and punish the outsourcing agencies and agents. Gurung also promised to blacklist manpower companies that charge money.
Though no agreement was signed today, the second day of the delegation's four-day official visit to Nepal, both the countries discussed on providing 24-hour insurance to Nepali migrant workers, compulsory orientation before taking jobs and strengthening workplace safety and security.
“Qatar’s insurance policy covers only work-related and road accidents," Gurung said, adding that the government hass asked visitors to provide 24-hour insurance cover throughout the contract period. "Apart from insurance, Qatar has also pledged to address most of the issues related to migrant workers in its proposed labour law."
Qatar is working on new labour laws that is expected to address most of the challenges facing – migrant workers, including good living and working conditions, occupational safety and life insurance.
According to Foreign Employment Promotion Board, it has reimbursed – from Migrant Workers’ Welfare Fund – some 205 families of  migrant workers, who died in Qatar in the fiscal year 2013-14, some 110 in 2012-13 and some 130 in 2011-12. But most of the deceased migrant workers have not got proper compensation from the employer as the Qatari law does not cover insurance for workers dying of 'natural cause', cardiac arrest or suicide.
However, the failure of successive governments in creating employment in the country has forced the mass exodus of youth to the foreign jobs, lately.
Qatar – the second largest destination for Nepali migrant workers after Malaysia – has some 400,000 Nepalis working currently, according to the department. "In the last fiscal year 2014-15, some 128,874 Nepalis went to Qatar, up from some 90,935 in a fiscal year ago in 2013-14," according to the department.

Investigation claims 185 Nepali migrant workers died in Qatar

A non-governmental organisation (NGO) has claimed that some 382 Nepali migrant workers died in Qatar in the past two years.

Pravasi Nepali Co-ordination Committee (PNCC) also claimed that the number could rise as very less cases have been brought to light.
"FIFA and the government of Qatar promised to take action to ensure the safety of workers building the stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup," the NGO said, adding that the rising number has revealed that they have not kept their promise.
Most of the young Nepali migrant workers have reached Gulf especially Qatar – recently – in search of employment due to lack of jobs back home. According to Amnesty International (AI), there are 1.35 million migrant workers in Qatar. "A study from the humanitarian organisation claimed Qatar's construction sector is rife with abuse and some projects seriously exploit people."
Its not a new news that the Gulf countries abuse migrant workers, but the Qatar death reveals that they disregard also for the basic human rights of migrant workers.
Most of the unskilled Nepali migrant workers have been involved in the construction sector in Qatar but the government has not been able to guarantee the safety of the migrant Nepali workers, who have been sending remittance to help float economy even during the last decade of insurgency. However, the government has not been able to calculate the cost of remittance as everyday around six coffins return and there is a huge social trauma among the children in the rural areas due to absence of their parents.