France probes 'dangerous' forced labor allegations in Qatar

French prosecutors have reportedly launched a preliminary inquiry into allegations that France's leading construction company and a major global player, Vinci, is using forced labor on building projects for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The investigation, which began in mid-April, aims to verify
claims made by the non-governmental group Sherpa, prosecutor
Catherine Denis told AFP on Saturday. Sherpa, whose mission is to
protect and defend victims of financial crimes, has filed a claim
in a French court against Vinci and its Qatari subsidiary QDVC
for "forced labor", "servitude" and
"concealment".
The allegations have been denied by the construction giant.
According to the prosecutor, a larger probe involving
investigations in Qatar could be subsequently opened if found
warranted.
"There more than 1 million of them coming from the
Philippines, India, Nepal and Bangladesh on the promise of a
hefty salary. Many find only death. Others are forced to work in
terrible conditions, and risk their lives daily in huge
infrastructure projects for a pittance. This currently takes
place in Qatar, the richest country in the world, on building
projects for the 2022 World Cup," Sherpa wrote on its website.
"The on-site investigations found the use by these companies
of various threats to force vulnerable people into scandalous
working and living conditions for a paltry salary," the NGO
said.
Sherpa claims working conditions at construction sites are
“unworthy and dangerous,” but that employees' passports have been
“confiscated by the company and the workers are threatened with
dismissal if they claim their right to better working conditions
or housing, or if they wish to resign or change employers.
“They are thus forced to accept working conditions unrelated
to the remuneration they receive,” it stated.
Vinci has denied all the allegations, and has filed a defamation
claim in Paris against the NGO.
READ MORE: Qatar’s World Cup migrant workers ‘died at rate of 1 every 2 days’ in 2014 – report
Last year Qatar pledged to improve workplace safety, housing and
pay and conditions for its huge expatriate workforce after FIFA
came under pressure from rights groups to review its decision to
award the emirate the 2022 World Cup, according to AFP.
Migrant workers account for nearly three thirds of Qatar’s
population of 2.2 million.
According to data, revealed in December, Nepalese construction
workers building the 2022 World Cup facilities in Qatar have been
dying at a rate of one every two days in 2014 due to bad working
conditions.
The numbers received from the Nepalese authorities show that 188
workers died in Qatar between January and mid-November, the
Guardian reported. Figures from the Nepalese Foreign Employment
Promotion Board were slightly lower, standing at 157 deaths in
2014. Over 65 of these individuals suffered cardiac arrest and
over 30 died in workplace accidents.
It's believed that most of the problems stem from mandatory long
shifts in searing temperatures.
Meanwhile, the latest data does not include the deaths of Indian,
Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi workers, leading to speculations that
the death rate could be more than one person per day if all the
deaths were added up.