Before the Human Rights Council

Aqil: The Qatari regime practices all methods of slavery and slavery against foreign workers ... and refugees in Turkey are living in tragic conditions

Today, June 24, 2019, Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights presented an intervention before the United Nations Human Rights Council, in which it revealed the violations committed by the Qatari and Turkish regimes against foreign workers and refugees in both countries, within the framework of the sessions of the 41st session of the Council, which began its work today in Geneva, which is scheduled to last until July 12. Maat is participating in it with an international mission consisting of 26 individuals from 8 European and African countries.

In the beginning, the Foundation drew the attention of the Human Rights Council to the serious developments in the human rights situation in Qatar and Turkey, especially with regard to the conditions of foreign workers and refugees, which witness serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. As foreign workers live in Qatar under a system of exclusion and isolation without any protection for human rights, and they are forced to work for 14 hours a day under the scorching sun, which reaches 50 degrees Celsius.

For his part, Ayman Aqil, head of Maat Foundation, affirmed that the Qatari authorities practice all methods of slavery and slavery against foreign workers, as they are subjected to racial discrimination, exploitation and abuse on the part of employers, in addition to their stay in overcrowded camps in the middle of the desert that are not suitable as human housing. The intervention indicated that The number of deaths among foreign workers, related to the construction of World Cup facilities only, has reached nearly 1,800, and the number is expected to increase by 7,000 workers by the time the World Cup 2022 begins.

As for the situation of refugees in Turkey, Akil denounced the tragic conditions that refugees live in and the Turkish government’s failure to provide livelihoods, access to housing, care and health, and education for their children, in addition to cases of forcible return of refugees and asylum seekers to their countries, as Turkey ignores the refugee law and forces Thousands of people to return to face the ravages of war, and the Turkish authorities impose restrictions on humanitarian access to refugees.

In conclusion, Maat called for the need to intensify international efforts to guarantee the rights of foreign workers and refugees in both Qatar and Turkey, and called for an independent international investigation to be opened to examine the causes of deaths among foreign workers in Qatar.