Doha (AFP) - Unpaid wages dominate a growing number of complaints by migrant workers in Qatar, the UN labour agency said Tuesday, 19 days from the start of the football World Cup.
The International Labour Organization said worker complaints more than doubled in a year to 34,425 with the launch of a new online platform, in a report which called on Qatar to bolster the implementation of reforms launched after criticism of its rights record.
"The main causes of complaints concerned non-payment of wages and end-of-service benefits, and annual leave not being granted or paid," said the report, which added that 10,500 cases went to labour tribunals where nearly all judges ruled in favour of workers.
The report said the number of workers treated for heat problems linked to the Gulf state's searing summer temperatures had also fallen after the introduction of new restrictions in 2021.
It said specialised clinic treated 351 migrant workers this summer, down from 620 in 2021 and 1,520 in 2020.
Qatar, where the World Cup starts on November 20, has been widely criticised over workers' conditions -- as well as rights for women and the LGBTQ community.
The ILO said Qatar has carried out "significant" reforms that have "improved the working and living conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers" and were having an impact across the Gulf region.
"There is universal acknowledgement that more needs to be done to fully apply and enforce the labour reforms," said the report.
"We all recognise that we are not yet at the finish line, and we will build on this solid foundation to address the gaps in implementation, and ensure that all workers and employers can fully benefit from these major reforms," said Ruba Jaradat, ILO regional director for Arab states.
Germany talks
The report came out as Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser met government leaders in Doha, days after her comments about rights in Qatar caused a diplomatic storm.
Faeser said Tuesday she would attend Germany's first World Cup game on November 23 after being given a "guarantee of safety" for LGBTQ fans.
Qatar, which has become increasingly frustrated over the criticism, had summoned the German ambassador last week after Faeser said Qatar's hosting of the World Cup was "very tricky" from Berlin's perspective.
A source involved in the meeting between Faeser and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al-Thani said her comments had been raised and that Qatar still viewed them as "dismissive".
Rights groups have continued to put a fierce spotlight on Qatar's record, accusing the government of under-reporting the number of deaths on mega construction projects linked to the World Cup and demanding FIFA set up a compensation fund for migrant workers.
The ILO has said that 50 workers died on construction projects in 2020.
It did not update the figures in the new report, but stated that "substantial efforts" have been made in "labour migration governance, the enforcement of the labour law and access to justice, and strengthening the voice of workers and social dialogue".
It said more than 300,000 workers had been able to change jobs after the partial dismantling of the "Kafala" labour system that previously meant a worker could not change posts or even leave the country without permission from their employer.
But it added: "There is a universal recognition that the work is not complete.This is not surprising given their (the reforms') magnitude".
The ILO said that Qatar had requested that its project office in Doha -- set up after international unions made an official complaint about the country in 2014 -- become a permanent office, which would be the first in the Gulf.
