“As the world struggles to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, migrant workers trapped in camps such as those in Qatar are at particular risk of exposure to the virus.
“Labour accommodation camps are notoriously overcrowded, and lack in adequate water and sanitation meaning that workers are inevitably less able to protect themselves from the virus. Workers’ proximity to one another in cramped camps also does not allow for any type of social distancing.
“The Qatari government must ensure that human rights remain central to all attempts at prevention and containment of the COVID-19 virus, and also that all people have access to health care, including preventive care and treatment for everyone affected, without discrimination.”
Amnesty International is calling on Qatar and other Gulf countries to ensure that migrant workers’ are not further marginalised during this crisis, and that that they can access sick pay when they are unable to work because of the COVID-19 epidemic, and have access to health care.
Background
During the course of its research in Qatar, Amnesty International has visited labour camps in Doha’s Industrial Area where large groups of migrant workers were housed in very poor accommodation, sleeping in bunk-beds in over-crowded rooms, with poor sanitation and sometimes with no electricity or running water.
Since 2010, when Qatar was awarded the right to host the FIFA World Cup 2022, Qatar’s migrant worker population has rapidly expanded. Coming from some of the world’s poorest countries, and working in sectors including construction, hospitality and domestic service, migrant workers make up 95% of the country’s labour force.
Amnesty International has repeatedly documented concerns about the rights of migrant workers in the Industrial Area, and Qatar’s exploitative labour system.
For further information or to schedule an interview, contact Mariya Parodi, at [email protected]
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