Boycott Qatar's 2022 FIFA World Cup of Slavery
Boycott Qatar's 2022 FIFA World Cup of Slavery
Boycott Qatar's 2022 FIFA World Cup of Slavery. Slavery is building the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and the Western world is profiting from this slavery. Qatar's 2022 FIFA World Cup is killing thousands of fathers, husbands, and families. @WorldCupSlavery
What You Can Do
1) Electronically sign this petition to boycott the 2022 World Cup. One click to stop slavery.
2) Make this petition viral. Share, Tweet, Snap, Insta or e-mail this petition to anyone and everyone. Also, ask influential bloggers/newspapers, personal connections, and organizations to support this petition. No matter the method, raising awareness helps end this injustice.
3) Please follow this issue @WorldCupSlavery. Your follow and support makes a difference.
4) Socially pressure FIFA’s sponsors: VISA, Hyundai/KIA, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, ADIDAS and Anheuser-Busch InBev.
5) Promote this petition so more people see and share the message (see the tab on the right of the screen).
Quick Facts
PLEASE WATCH! ESPN E60’s documentary illustrates the human rights violations.
In preparation to host the 2022 World Cup, Qatar is using slavery to build over 200 billion dollars of infrastructure. Many Western sponsors, construction companies, and businesses will profit from this slavery.
Qatar’s World Cup construction is expected to kill over 7,000 workers. FIFA, the Western world, and Qatar are killing 7,000 fathers, sons, and brothers in order to profit off soccer.
Qatar is not only killing 7,000 workers, but destroying 7,000 families. The forced laborer’s families cannot withstand the loss of their primary income earner. Often, the families lose their home, starve, or are forced to make inhumane decisions for survival.
The international community has condemned Qatar’s system of slavery. The United Nation’s described Qatar’s kafala system as “slavery-like conditions.” The United States Department of State concluded, “Approximately 94 percent of the country’s workforce is comprised of men and women from South and Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East who voluntarily come to work as low- and semiskilled workers, primarily in construction, oil and gas, service, transportation, and domestic work, but some subsequently face forced labor.”
Solution
Our social pressure could end Qatar’s slavery. This petition seeks to 1) Force FIFA to change the 2022 World Cup hosting country, and 2) Force Qatar to abolish its migrant work sponsorship program (kafala system).
Collectively, this petition will apply social pressure to the sponsors of the 2022 World Cup. Driven by that social pressure, sponsors will threaten to end sponsorship to avoid negative publicity and financial losses. Under the threat of losing sponsors and public support, FIFA will demand changes from the Qatari government.
Summary of Qatar’s Slavery
Qatar regulates their migrant workforce through a work sponsorship program called a kafala system. Qatar’s kafala system entraps the immigrants with false promises of adequate wages, only to significantly reduce their pay upon their arrival to Qatar. If the forced laborer protests, Qatar unlawfully detains insubordinate employees, allows employers to withhold pay, and enables employers to confiscate passports to prevent the forced laborers to return home.
With this disproportional leverage over the laborers, employers force laborers into dangerous working conditions. Employers force immigrant workers to labor for 16 hours in 120° heat. The forced laborers sleep 10 to 14 people in a very small room with no running water or sewage system. Under these dangerous working and living conditions, experts estimate that Qatar’s system of slavery will kill upwards of 7,000 workers before the start of the 2022 World Cup.
Qatar’s kafala system not only harms the forced laborers, but destroys the forced laborers’ families as well. If the forced laborers die, their families lose their primary income earner. If the laborers survive, employers reduce pay, delay pay, or withhold pay completely. The forced laborers’ families depend on this income. Without this income, wives, grandparents, and children living in the forced laborers’ origin country lose homes, starve, and struggle to survive.
Qatar’s kafala system violates several human rights laws. The United Nation’s Human Rights Officer described Qatar’s kafala system as leading to “slavery-like conditions.”
The United Nations Convention Against Torture found that “Qatar continues to be a destination country for men and women subjected to forced labour and forced prostitution.” The Convention Against Torture also found “… reports of widespread torture or ill-treatment and abuse of migrant workers, in particular those under the sponsorship system (kafeel).”
Qatar’s exploitation of migrant workers will only increase with the 2022 World Cup preparations. To prepare for the 2022 World Cup, Qatar plans to spend over 200 billion dollars in infrastructure through 2030. Because of Qatar’s construction needs, Qatar has recruited a significant number of migrant workers typically from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, the Philippines, or Sri Lanka. In fact, estimates suggest that the 1.39 million migrant workers in Qatar make up 94% of Qatar’s workforce.
Why is this petition urgent?
If FIFA’s contractual liabilities in Qatar increase too much, FIFA likely will not terminate their 2022 World Cup contract. Because of contractual obligations, FIFA may be liable for Qatar’s World Cup investments. If FIFA breaks their World Cup contract with Qatar, Qatar could sue to recover their World Cup investments.
The longer we wait, the more money Qatar spends on World Cup preparations. Currently, Qatar is estimated to spend over 200 billion on infrastructure and World Cup preparations. That means the longer we wait, the less likely FIFA is to demand reform to Qatar’s kafala system or change the 2022 World Cup location.
Sources and more details:
DLA Piper Report, Migrant Labour in the Construction Sector in the State of Qatar
United States Department of State, Trafficking Persons Report 2016: Qatar
United Nations Human Rights Council, Qatar
The Guardian, Revealed: Qatar’s World Cup ‘slaves’
The Washington Post, The toll of human casualties in Qatar
The Guardian, Fifa faces legal challenge over Qatar migrant workers
Amnesty International, Tell FIFA and Sponsors to stop World Cup exploitation
TIME, Major FIFA Sponsors Don’t Want to Talk About Qatar, Either
USA Today, Deloitte: Qatar to spend $200 billion for World Cup
About the author: RJ Shea graduated with honors from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. During law school, RJ submitted a report to the United Nations detailing Qatar’s human rights violations. RJ also worked on human rights issues in Mali, Ireland, and Turkey.