The S&Ds led the negotiations between political groups on the European Parliament’s resolution on human rights violations in Qatar that will be voted on today in the context of the ongoing FIFA World Cup. An intense international spotlight on breaches of rights of migrant workers, women, and LGBTIQ community in the host country must be a wake-up call to FIFA. An international organisation of such relevance should always champion human rights.

Nacho Sánchez Amor, S&D human rights spokesperson and European Parliament’s negotiator on the resolution on human rights in the context of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar:

“The World Cup is a huge opportunity to celebrate and promote freedom and equality. In this case, it is a painfully missed opportunity. Considering the very poor human rights record of Qatar, it was an obvious mistake to award the World Cup to this country. The Parliament highlighted its concerns over the situation of migrant workers there already in the resolution adopted way back in 2013.

“Today, we will reiterate our concerns. This is our duty, because stadiums for the greatest tournament on Earth are built at the cost of thousands of workers’ lives, and because women and the LGBTIQ persons in the host country live in extremely regressive conditions. Our Group has always fought for their rights to be respected everywhere in the world, and Qatar is no exception.

“We encourage Qatar to continue meaningful reforms regarding labour rights, as such evaluated by the International Labour Organisation and the International Trade Union Confederation. We also expect all European companies* to respect workers’ rights in Qatar.”

*Note to editors:

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a number of European companies, including Carrefour, Banyan Tree, Fairmont Movenpick Pullman, Acciona, Qantum, Keolis, RATP and Technip, that are physically present in Qatar, have refused to participate in the joint committees set up to bring together management and worker representatives to discuss, prevent and resolve workplace conflicts. Furthermore, the Dutch company, Core Laboratories, is reportedly not paying salaries to some employees.