Inhoudsopgave
- Internationaal deel: p. 2.
- Europees deel: p. 7.
1
, Arresten internationaal en Europees arbeidsrecht
Internationaal deel
Week 2: Corporate Social Responsibility
4. NCP Zwitzerland: FIFA – BWI (2015). Lees het ‘initial assessment` en het ´final statement´, Swiss
NCP issued on 13 October 2015 and 2 May 2017’, link:
http://mneguidelines.oecd.org/database/instances/ch0013.htm
file:///C:/Users/roelo/Downloads/Initial%20Assessment%20FIFA%202015.pdf Initial assessment FIFA
– BWI
1. Submission
The submission concerns human rights violations of migrant workers related to the construction of
facilities for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar. According to the submitting party, the existence of
human rights violations of migrant workers in Qatar is uncontested and they result from the Kafala
(sponsorship) system, the confiscation of passports, discrimination and unequal remuneration, non-
payment of wages, charging of recruitment fees, occupational health and safety issues, restrictions
on the freedom of association, alteration of employment contracts, detention of migrant workers, a
lack of safe and decent accommodation and issues related to access to remedy.
The submitting party states that the responding party has violated the OECD Guidelines by
appointing Qatar as the host state for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar in 2010. According to the
submitting party, at this time the human rights violations of migrant workers in Qatar were widely
documented.
The submitting party further states that after appointing Qatar as the host state, the responding
party failed to conduct adequate and ongoing human rights due diligence as called for in the updated
OECD Guidelines which entered into force in 20112 . In the view of the submitting party, the
responding party should have taken adequate and ongoing steps to identify, prevent and mitigate
actual and potential adverse human rights impacts.
2. Expectations of the submitting party regarding the Swiss NCP proceedings
Therefore, the submitting party requests that the Swiss NCP offers its good offices for mediation
between the responding and the submitting party. The purpose of the mediation would be, first, to
identify steps to be taken by the responding party itself. Secondly, the submitting party would also
wish to address the responsibility of the responding party to use its alleged leverage with the
Government of Qatar in order to accelerate labour law and other human rights-related reforms.
3. Statement of the responding party
To advance that end, it mentions its encouragement and facilitation of dialogue between
stakeholders in Qatar and international organizations concerned about these issues. With regard to
the situation of migrant workers in Qatar, the responding party has held a series of exchanges and
discussions and the matter has been constantly addressed at the highest political level by the FIFA
President on the occasion of every meeting FIFA President Blatter held with H.H. the Emir of the
State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani. However according to the responding party, its
direct counterparties throughout the entire life cycle of the event are not the government authorities
of the State of Qatar. More specifically, with regard to the legal framework pertaining to the FIFA
World Cup, the direct counterparties are the member association (i.e. the Qatar Football
2
- Internationaal deel: p. 2.
- Europees deel: p. 7.
1
, Arresten internationaal en Europees arbeidsrecht
Internationaal deel
Week 2: Corporate Social Responsibility
4. NCP Zwitzerland: FIFA – BWI (2015). Lees het ‘initial assessment` en het ´final statement´, Swiss
NCP issued on 13 October 2015 and 2 May 2017’, link:
http://mneguidelines.oecd.org/database/instances/ch0013.htm
file:///C:/Users/roelo/Downloads/Initial%20Assessment%20FIFA%202015.pdf Initial assessment FIFA
– BWI
1. Submission
The submission concerns human rights violations of migrant workers related to the construction of
facilities for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar. According to the submitting party, the existence of
human rights violations of migrant workers in Qatar is uncontested and they result from the Kafala
(sponsorship) system, the confiscation of passports, discrimination and unequal remuneration, non-
payment of wages, charging of recruitment fees, occupational health and safety issues, restrictions
on the freedom of association, alteration of employment contracts, detention of migrant workers, a
lack of safe and decent accommodation and issues related to access to remedy.
The submitting party states that the responding party has violated the OECD Guidelines by
appointing Qatar as the host state for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar in 2010. According to the
submitting party, at this time the human rights violations of migrant workers in Qatar were widely
documented.
The submitting party further states that after appointing Qatar as the host state, the responding
party failed to conduct adequate and ongoing human rights due diligence as called for in the updated
OECD Guidelines which entered into force in 20112 . In the view of the submitting party, the
responding party should have taken adequate and ongoing steps to identify, prevent and mitigate
actual and potential adverse human rights impacts.
2. Expectations of the submitting party regarding the Swiss NCP proceedings
Therefore, the submitting party requests that the Swiss NCP offers its good offices for mediation
between the responding and the submitting party. The purpose of the mediation would be, first, to
identify steps to be taken by the responding party itself. Secondly, the submitting party would also
wish to address the responsibility of the responding party to use its alleged leverage with the
Government of Qatar in order to accelerate labour law and other human rights-related reforms.
3. Statement of the responding party
To advance that end, it mentions its encouragement and facilitation of dialogue between
stakeholders in Qatar and international organizations concerned about these issues. With regard to
the situation of migrant workers in Qatar, the responding party has held a series of exchanges and
discussions and the matter has been constantly addressed at the highest political level by the FIFA
President on the occasion of every meeting FIFA President Blatter held with H.H. the Emir of the
State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani. However according to the responding party, its
direct counterparties throughout the entire life cycle of the event are not the government authorities
of the State of Qatar. More specifically, with regard to the legal framework pertaining to the FIFA
World Cup, the direct counterparties are the member association (i.e. the Qatar Football
2
