FIFA should match $440m Qatar 2022 prize money to fund migrant worker compensation

FairSquare has joined Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and a range of football supporter groups, civil society organisations and trade unions to call on FIFA to help establish a comprehensive Qatar 2022 programme to ensure all labour abuses to which the organisation contributed are remedied, and to set aside appropriate financial resources.

Why trafficking in the Gulf persists

In a new article for the Global Index on Organised Crime, FairSquare director James Lynch takes a look at why labour trafficking remains rife in the Gulf states, which are signed up to and publicly supportive of the key international anti-trafficking agreements:

FairSquare Director on Newcastle United, Saudi Arabia and “sportswashing”

FairSquare director Nick McGeehan has used an article in openDemocracy to explore the implications of “sportswashing” for football and democracy, in the wake of the Premier League’s decision to agree to the takeover of Newcastle United FC by a consortium led by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Kenyan labour rights activist leaves Qatar after paying hefty fine for publishing “false news”

Malcolm Bidali, a Kenyan national, who was forcibly disappeared by Qatari authorities on 4 May and held in solitary confinement for a month, has finally been allowed to leave the country after paying a hefty fine for his human rights activism. The 28-year-old is a security guard, blogger and activist, who has been vocal about the plight of migrant workers like himself, and has written for a number of online platforms.

Kuwait and Qatar must be more decisive in their efforts to tackle abusive recruitment of migrant workers

Report into recruitment practices calls on Kuwait to fully ban the payment of recruitment fees for all categories of migrant workers, and recommends that Qatar make employers liable for the actions of intermediaries in the recruitment process.

Kuwait and Qatar should both strengthen their laws to ban the payment of recruitment fees by all migrant workers, irrespective of where that payment is made, and should significantly increase their focus on stamping out abusive recruitment practices, FairSquare said today in a 162 page report into recruitment of migrant workers in Nepal, Kuwait and Qatar.

على الكويت وقطر أن تكونا أكثر حزمًا في جهودهما لمعالجة الاستقدام المسيء للعمّال المهاجرين

يناشد التقرير حول ممارسات التوظيف الكويت بأن تحظر كليًا رسوم التوظيف لجميع فئات العمّال المهاجرين، كما يوصي قطر بأن تحمّل أرباب العمل المسؤولية عن أفعال الوسطاء في عملية التوظيف.

Press Release: Nepal should eliminate recruitment fees and increase enforcement capacity to prevent exploitation of its migrant workers

Report into recruitment practices commends elements of government policy but recommends Nepal drop recruitment fee cap in favour of true ‘zero-cost’ model, in line with international standards.

The Nepali authorities should make all worker fee payment illegal and significantly increase their enforcement capacity, as part of a package of reforms in order to ensure fair recruitment, FairSquare said today in a 162 page report into recruitment practices in Nepal, Kuwait and Qatar.

प्रेस विज्ञप्तिः नेपाल सरकारले वैदेशिक रोजगारीको भर्ना शुल्क खारेज गर्नुपर्छ र वैदेशिक रोजगारीमा जाने कामदारको शोषण रोक्न कानुन कार्यान्वयन गर्ने क्षमता बढाउनुपर्दछ ।

भर्ना अभ्यास सम्बन्धी प्रतिवेदनले सरकारी नीतिका केही अंशहरूको प्रशंसा गर्दछ, तर अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय मापदण्ड अनुसार सही अर्थमा ‘शून्य–शुल्क’ हुने गरि नेपाल सरकारले भर्ना शुल्कको सिमा घटाउनुपर्दछ भन्ने सिफारिस गर्दछ ।

आप्रवासी कामदारहरूको अधिकारको विषयमा काम गर्ने गैर–नाफामुखी मानव अधिकार संस्था फेयर स्क्वायर प्रोजेक्ट्स्ले नेपाल, कुवेत र कतारको भर्ना अभ्यासहरूबारे १६२ पृष्ठको प्रतिवेदन जारी गर्दै नेपाल सरकारलाई न्यायोचित भर्ना सुनिश्चित गर्नको निम्ति गरिने सुधारहरूको अंशको रूपमा कामदारहरूले तिर्ने सबै शुल्कलाई गैरकानुनी बनाउन र यस प्रावधानलाई कार्यान्वयन गर्ने क्षमतामा उल्लेख्य वृद्धि गर्न आह्वान गरेकोछ ।

Les autorités canadiennes doivent consolider les bases de la protection des droits des travailleurs migrants.

Dans un rapport sur les pratiques en matière de recrutement de main-d’œuvre du Mexique pour des emplois au Canada, le gouvernement fédéral est invité à accroître la mobilité professionnelle des travailleurs migrants et à endiguer le prélèvement de commissions par les consultants en immigration, tandis que les administrations provinciales sont appelées à mettre fin à l’exclusion généralisée des travailleurs agricoles de l’exercice de certains droits.

Le gouvernement fédéral canadien devrait renforcer la mobilité professionnelle des travailleurs migrants, notamment en supprimant le permis de travail lié à un employeur spécifique, et combler les failles de la législation qui exposent les travailleurs migrants au risque d’être exploités par des consultants en immigration abusifs, déclare aujourd’hui FairSquare dans un rapport de 150 pages sur le recrutement de travailleurs migrants mexicains pour des emplois au Canada.

Canadian policymakers should build stronger foundations for migrant workers’ rights protection

Report into Mexico-Canada recruitment practices calls on federal government to increase job mobility for migrant workers and to restrict the charging of fees by immigration consultants, while provincial governments should remove blanket exclusions on rights for agricultural workers.

Canada’s federal government should provide increased job mobility for migrant workers, in particular by removing the employer-specific work permit, and remove loopholes that put migrant workers at risk of exploitation of exploitative immigration consultants, FairSquare said today in a 150-page report into the recruitment of Mexican migrant workers for jobs in Canada.