FairSquare is a non-profit organisation. We combine thorough, hard-hitting research with impactful advocacy to promote systemic change and stop human rights abuses.
We produce original findings to generate debate and shape narratives in our specialist areas of labour migration, political repression, and sport. We work mainly in Europe, the Middle East and South Asia.
We challenge government policies that put low-paid migrant workers in wealthy countries at grave risk of abuse and exploitation.
Our research and advocacy focuses particularly on the pernicious impacts of temporary labour migration schemes in Europe and the Middle East and issues relating to migrant worker health, notably deaths and injuries linked to heat. Our Five Corridors Project was a major piece of comparative research into the role of governments in ensuring fair recruitment of migrant workers. We led the Vital Signs Partnership, which examined the health and mortality of South Asian migrant workers in Gulf states. In the UK, we are part of the Seasonal Worker Interest Group.
We work with activists and victims of human rights abuses to push back against state repression.
We focus primarily on states in the Middle East region that are supported by governments in Europe, including the UK where we are based. As well as research and campaigning on individual cases, we examine the impacts of western foreign policy, and draw connections between repression and the extraction of fossil fuels and the activities of businesses and cultural bodies. We focus on the real risks faced by activists living outside their countries in supposedly safe states such as the UK, as the states we work on seek to extend the reach of their repression beyond their borders.
We promote better, more democratic governance to prevent sporting institutions contributing to harm and suffering.
Sport has the potential to play a transformative, positive role in society, but too often its power is misappropriated and exploited. Our work on accountability in sport is informed by years of research and advocacy on abuses connected to the Qatar 2022 World Cup, and the role of FIFA. We have taken a strong stance against state ownership of English football clubs, and explored the political implications of such projects. We call for better rule-making by governing bodies on how they respond to violations of international law.
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01.
Exploitation of
Migrant WorkersWe challenge government policies that put low-paid migrant workers in wealthy countries at grave risk of abuse and exploitation.
Our research and advocacy focuses particularly on the pernicious impacts of temporary labour migration schemes in Europe and the Middle East and issues relating to migrant worker health, notably deaths and injuries linked to heat. Our Five Corridors Project was a major piece of comparative research into the role of governments in ensuring fair recruitment of migrant workers. We led the Vital Signs Partnership, which examined the health and mortality of South Asian migrant workers in Gulf states. In the UK, we are part of the Seasonal Worker Interest Group.
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May 14, 2025
New report predicts surge in unexplained migrant worker deaths in Saudi Arabia
A FairSquare report published today has found that there is a critical absence of effective policies and processes to determine the cause of migrant worker deaths in Saudi Arabia, and concluded that the surge of construction associated with projects such as NEOM and the 2034 men’s World Cup will in all likelihood lead to thousands […]
Accountability in Sport Aramco Business and Human Rights Climate Exploitation of Migrant Workers FIFA Football Fossil fuels Health Saudi Arabia Vital Signs -
02.
Political
RepressionWe work with activists and victims of human rights abuses to push back against state repression.
We focus primarily on states in the Middle East region that are supported by governments in Europe, including the UK where we are based. As well as research and campaigning on individual cases, we examine the impacts of western foreign policy, and draw connections between repression and the extraction of fossil fuels and the activities of businesses and cultural bodies. We focus on the real risks faced by activists living outside their countries in supposedly safe states such as the UK, as the states we work on seek to extend the reach of their repression beyond their borders.
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July 16, 2024
Addressing the challenge of transnational human rights violations in the UK
A new briefing from the Rights Practice in collaboration with FairSquare captures the outcomes of two workshops exploring the experiences of members of the UK’s diaspora and activist communities who are targets of transnational repression by autocratic states, and the law and policy responses to TNR.
Authoritarianism Bahrain China Egypt Hong Kong Iran Political Repression Report Russia Saudi Arabia Transnational Repression UAE UK -
03.
Accountability
in SportWe promote better, more democratic governance to prevent sporting institutions contributing to harm and suffering.
Sport has the potential to play a transformative, positive role in society, but too often its power is misappropriated and exploited. Our work on accountability in sport is informed by years of research and advocacy on abuses connected to the Qatar 2022 World Cup, and the role of FIFA. We have taken a strong stance against state ownership of English football clubs, and explored the political implications of such projects. We call for better rule-making by governing bodies on how they respond to violations of international law.
Continue Reading
May 14, 2025
New report predicts surge in unexplained migrant worker deaths in Saudi Arabia
A FairSquare report published today has found that there is a critical absence of effective policies and processes to determine the cause of migrant worker deaths in Saudi Arabia, and concluded that the surge of construction associated with projects such as NEOM and the 2034 men’s World Cup will in all likelihood lead to thousands […]
Accountability in Sport Aramco Business and Human Rights Climate Exploitation of Migrant Workers FIFA Football Fossil fuels Health Saudi Arabia Vital Signs
