Brussels –The EU parliament yesterday (Thursday) voted in favour of a resolution that calls on FIFA to help compensate the families of the migrant workers who died, as well as workers who suffered rights abuses, during preparations for the World Cup.
MEPs also urged the Qatari authorities to conduct a full investigation into human rights abuses in the run-up to the competition.
The resolution also deplored reports of abuses of the LGBTQ+ community in Qatar and called on the country to decriminalise same-sex relationships.
A number of MEPs were wearing the anti-hate “OneLove” armbands which seven European World Cup captains backed out from wearing following FIFA pressure.
The Qatari government did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
Since FIFA awarded the World Cup to Qatar in 2010, the country has changed some of its labour laws and, ahead of the World Cup, organisers repeatedly said that everyone was welcome. This is despite the fact that Human Rights Watch said LGBTQ+ people were arrested in the run-up to the soccer showpiece.
“Migrant workers were indispensable to making the World Cup 2022 possible, but it has come at great cost for many migrant workers and their families who not only made personal sacrifices, but also faced widespread wage theft, injuries, and thousands of unexplained deaths,” said Rothna Begum, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“Many migrant workers, their families and communities are not able to fully celebrate what they have built. (They) are calling on FIFA and Qatar to remedy abuses of workers that have left families and communities destitute and struggling.”
REUTERS