Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will meet his counterparts in the Qatari government to discuss the human rights situation and working conditions of foreign workers assisting that country in building stadia for the 2022 World Cup.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson), last spoke to Qatar’s foreign minister on 7 September about preparations for the World Cup. He offered continued UK support in partnering with Qatar to deliver a successful event in 2022. We continue to raise the issue of workers’ rights with the Government of Qatar; most recently on 15 September to offer UK expertise in addition to support we already give. I am meeting my Qatari counterpart in Doha later this year and will raise this issue again then.

We support the steps that the Qatari Government has taken to respond to concerns about the treatment of migrant workers and we welcome the Government of Qatar’s commitment to the ongoing, systematic reform of Qatar’s labour laws.