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Article

10 Dec 2014

Author:
Sue Lloyd-Roberts, BBC Newsnight

Qatar 2022: Construction firms accused amid building boom

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Qatar is spending more than £200bn ($312bn) on a building bonanza ahead of the tournament. Everyone seems to be getting rich, except those at the bottom of the human supply chain, the migrant worker. So what is the responsibility of the international companies awarded massive contracts in Qatar? We have uncovered worrying testimony about pay, housing conditions and safety standards from foreign workers. They include some employed by subcontractors working for one of Britain's biggest construction firms, Carillion...Carillion says it is "deeply concerned and surprised" by our findings and will be "conducting an immediate review of these claims to establish the position and take appropriate action"....Ray Jureidini, a professor of ethics and migration...says Qatar's labour laws need urgent reform and that corruption and bribery at the recruitment level must be addressed. He also says that international companies have a duty to get more involved and is critical of those which don't. "They don't ask about the men supplied to them," he says....The International Trade Union Confederation, which has been compiling the number of workers' deaths, estimates that 4,000 might die before the ribbon is cut on the final stadium - all for a football tournament