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DOHA. — Football 2022 World Cup host Qatar is “failing” many of its migrant workers by not delivering on labour law reform, Amnesty International claimed yesterday.

In the latest of a string of reports on Qatari labour “abuse”, the rights watchdog said Doha had not followed through on promises to change laws governing workers in key areas including the “kafala” system that blocks workers from leaving the country and curbs on changing employers.

In its latest briefing, “Promising little, delivering less: Qatar and migrant labour abuse ahead of the 2022 Football World Cup,” Amnesty said the pace of change is too slow.

This puts Doha’s reform promises in danger of being seen as a “mere public relations stunt to ensure the Gulf state can cling on to the 2022 World Cup”.

There are up to an estimated one million migrant labourers currently working in Qatar.

Amnesty’s Mustafa Qadri said: “Last year the government made promises to improve migrant labour rights in Qatar, but in practice, there have been no significant advances.

“The lack of a clear roadmap of targets and benchmarks for reform leaves serious doubts about Qatar’s commitment to tackling migrant labour abuse.”

Amnesty listed nine “fundamental” areas for reform and said Doha has managed only “limited progress” in five, and none at all in four. — AFP.