‘I haven’t earned a single rial’: Qatar migrant labourers left stranded and jobless after the World Cup

M igrant workers from west Africa say they have been left stranded, destitute and jobless in Qatar just 100 days after the end of the World Cup, despite claims that the tournament would leave a legacy of better workers’ rights in the country.

The Guardian has interviewed men with so-called “free visas”, under which they must find their own jobs, who say they have been out of work for months. Some can barely afford to eat. Others are so short of money they have been forced to plead for help from their impoverished families back home.

“I haven’t eaten for two days,” says Aboubacar*, from Guinea, who has not worked since the World Cup. “Ironic, isn’t it?” says another. “We are in the richest country in the world, but we are begging for money from Africa.”

The Guardian spoke to other workers from Nigeria who have been duped into paying vast sums to enter Qatar on Hayya cards, the permit required to visit the country during the World Cup.

They are falsely promised by rogue recruitment agents in their own country that Hayya cards can be converted into work visas on arrival. The validity of the card was recently extended until 2024, but it can only be used for tourism, leaving the victims deep in debt, unable to legally work and struggling to return home.

Qatar has faced severe criticism for the abusive conditions endured by many low-paid workers in the country, including wage theft, illegal recruitment fees and injuries and death building stadiums and infrastructure.

The Qatari authorities and Fifa repeatedly promised the tournament would be a catalyst for change, with the Fifa president Gianni Infantino calling Qatar’s progress on workers’ rights “incredible”, but the reality suggests migrant workers continue to endure