News – Page 3 – FairSquare

100+ UK Parliamentarians write to Foreign Office on case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah

A letter signed by more than 100 MPs and members of the House of Lords was today submitted to the UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, to urge fresh approaches on the case of British-Egyptian pro-democracy writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah.

UAE, other Gulf states exposing migrant workers to potentially fatal temperatures

COP28 hosts should lead the way to protect workers’ health and lives in the face of alarming projections

Extreme and rising temperatures in the Gulf states are placing migrant workers across the region at acute risk of potentially fatal heat-related illnesses and injuries, a new report from the Vital Signs Partnership has found.

Lack of civic leadership has enabled Manchester and Newcastle sportswashing projects

FairSquare report provides further evidence of the harms of state ownership of football clubs

A new report published today finds that political leaders in Manchester and Newcastle have not only declined multiple opportunities to use their positions of influence to express criticism of serious and systematic human rights abuses in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, but have effectively assisted these two deeply abusive and profoundly anti-democratic states’ efforts to set up ‘soft power enclaves’ in cities with proud histories of protest and dissent.

Climate movement must switch on to UAE threat

In this article for Climate Home News, FairSquare director James Lynch explores the relationship between fossil fuel extraction and authoritarianism in the UAE, and the threat this poses to the planet.

UK’s seasonal agriculture visa scheme exposes migrant workers to serious risk of abuse, say rights experts

Migrant agricultural workers in the UK could face comparable risks to migrant labourers in the Gulf, advocacy groups and experts from the UK, Nepal and Bangladesh warned today.

Joint statement ahead of COP28 in the UAE

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continue their sustained assault on human rights and freedoms, including targeting human rights activists, enacting repressive laws, and using the criminal justice system as a tool to eliminate the human rights movement. These policies have led to the closure of civic space, severe restrictions on freedom of expression, both online and offline, and the criminalisation of peaceful dissent.

New report on Dutch government, business and human rights in authoritarian states

A new Amnesty International report, produced with the assistance of FairSquare, has found that the Dutch government has incentivized Dutch companies to do business in China, Saudi Arabia and Russia without ensuring human rights due diligence responsibilities are met.

NGOs call on Boeing to urge Saudi Arabia to lift travel bans on peaceful activists

FairSquare has joined Saudi Arabian and international civil society organisations in calling on Boeing to take a principled stand on the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia and specifically to urge the Saudi authorities to lift the travel bans they have imposed on numerous peaceful dissidents, rights advocates and their family members.

Call on UK government to prohibit and phase out state ownership of football clubs

Systemic stability not possible with nation state involvement

FairSquare has this week written to Lucy Frazer, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, urging the UK government to outlaw state ownership of English football clubs.

Talabat Food Delivery Riders in Qatar Unpaid for 8 Months then Deported

One rider died after road accident while “working for tips”

A group of 160 migrant workers in Qatar, scores of whom have been working exclusively for the food delivery service Talabat, have been subjected to wage theft, in some cases going unpaid for as long as 8 months, FairSquare has found. The parent company of Talabat is the German company Delivery Hero.