Rights Watchdog Urges Qatar To Make Local Engineering Firm Pay Wage Arrears To Employees

Rights Watchdog Urges Qatar to Make Local Engineering Firm Pay Wage Arrears to Employees

The Qatari government should ensure that former employees of local engineering company Mercury MENA receive the money that the company had failed to pay them for their work, a prominent watchdog said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th September, 2018) The Qatari government should ensure that former employees of local engineering company Mercury MENA receive the money that the company had failed to pay them for their work, a prominent watchdog said on Wednesday.

According to Amnesty International, Mercury MENA, involved in building infrastructure for the 2022 FIFA World Cup set to be held in Qatar, had failed to pay "thousands of Dollars" to its migrant employees, taking advantage of the country's labor system that prevents migrant workers from quitting their jobs without the employers' permission as this can result in their detention and deportation.

"Many Mercury MENA employees had made huge sacrifices and taken out ruinous loans to take jobs in Qatar. They ended up working unpaid for months on end and were let down by a system which failed to protect them. By ensuring they get the wages which they are owed, Qatar can help these migrant workers to rebuild their lives and show that it is serious about improving workers' rights," Amnesty International's Director of Global Issues Steve Cockburn said in a statement.

Amnesty International claims that Mercury MENA started withholding wages in February 2016, while delays became more frequent in 2017. The research that Amnesty International conducted from October 2017 to April 2018, having interviewed 78 former Mercury MENA's employees from India, Nepal and the Philippines, revealed that the company owned each of them between $1,370 and $2,470 in wages and benefits. According to Amnesty International, Mercury MENA also failed to provide residence permits to its migrant employees, which was making them even more vulnerable via restricting their ability to change jobs or leave Qatar.

"Sadly, the exploitation of migrant workers by Mercury MENA is not an isolated case. We will continue to pressure the Qatar authorities until promises of overhauling the sponsorship system are delivered, and workers' rights are fully protected both in law and practice," Cockburn said.

Mercury MENA contributed to the construction of the 500-seater 2022 Doha Showcase Stadium that helped the country's bid to hold the 2022 FIFA World Cup win, as well as to the construction of the city of Lusail, where the opening and the closing matches of the tournament will be held.

Qatar will host the next FIFA World Cup between November 21 and December 18, 2022.