Report: WCup foreign workers in Qatar suffered abuse

(10 Nov 2022) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Doha, Qatar - 8 November 2022 1. Various of workers putting up FIFA sign on the facade of a building ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVE: Doha, Qatar - 15 March 2022 2. External of Lusail Stadium, construction truck passing 3. Tilt down from sky to Lusail Stadium's football field 4. Pan of stadium's seats ASSOCIATED PRESS New Delhi, India - 8 November 2022 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Namrata Raju, Equidem director in India : "Fans need to know how this came about, that the stadiums that they're sitting in was built by workers, many of whom were in conditions of what we would call forced labor or other forms of modern slavery. And I would ask anybody who is watching this tournament to think how they make a difference in the world." ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVE: Doha, Qatar - 12 October 2022 6. Various of workers on scaffolds ASSOCIATED PRESS New Delhi, India - 8 November 2022 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Namrata Raju, Equidem director in India: "The fear of reprisal is exceedingly high. So, our report covers 60 in-depth interviews in terms of detailed testimony. But I could have spoken to actually close to a thousand workers over this year and a half. And workers are, frankly, sort of to get into quite of sweat, when it comes to doing something, whether it is media facing or whether it is actually reporting the kind of issues that they faced. And the main reason for this is, actually sort of, almost like two pairs of eyes they feel that are on them. And one pair of eyes are the Qatari authorities, where they feel some kind of punitive action or implications. And the other pair of eyes are their own employers." ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVE: Doha, Qatar - 12 October 2022 8. Driving shot of workers on scaffolds 9. Wide of traffic on the seafront promenade 10. Wide of seafront of Doha ASSOCIATED PRESS New Delhi, India - 8 November 2022 11. SOUNDBITE (English), Namrata Raju, Equidem director in India: "Very often employers still continue this exercise of retaining worker passports, which actually is counter to Qatari law as well. So, and not just in Qatar's case, in a lot of countries these days, which are under the Kafala (Sponsorship) system, or what they call the sponsorship system, they have tried to start reforming these things. But unfortunately, we see very sizeable gaps between what they say has changed in the law and the policy and what happens in practice." ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVE: Doha, Qatar - 22 September 2022 12. Various of Doha Skyscrapers 13. Various of builders working at night STORYLINE: Foreign workers who built Qatar's World Cup stadiums worked under harsh conditions and were subjected to discrimination, wage theft and other abuses, a rights group said in a report released on Thursday. The 75-page report by the London-based charity Equidem comes less than two weeks before the Gulf Arab nation hosts the world's biggest sporting event, with over 1.2 million fans expected to descend on the tiny emirate for the month long tournament. Namrata Raju, the director of Equidem in India, said fans need to know how the infrastructure for the event was built. "The stadiums that they're sitting in was built by workers, many of whom were in conditions of what we would call forced labor or other forms of modern slavery", she said. Under heavy international scrutiny, Qatar has enacted several labor reforms in recent years that have been praised by Equidem and other rights groups. But advocates say abuses are still widespread and that workers have few if any avenues for redress. Clients are reminded: Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...