Human rights activists are outraged that Qatar, which caused 7,000 migrant workers to die laboring for the FIFA World Cup, was just elected to head the ILO’s annual International Labor Conference.
“It’s a travesty of justice that Qatar won this top ILO post after a years-long influence campaign, recently exposed by the New York Times, to silence the UN’s labor rights agency about its abuse of migrant workers,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, an independent non-governmental human rights group based in Geneva. “This included Qatar’s $25 million gift to the ILO, free travel for a labor leader, and planted questions at parliamentary hearings.”
“The International Labor Organization is one of the oldest international organizations dedicated to defending human rights, yet it is elevating Qatar which employs slave labor, oppresses women and supports terrorists, including Al Qaeda in Syria, the Taliban, Jihadis in Libya and Somalia, and Hamas,” said Neuer.
“Qatar is operating numerous propaganda accounts that immediately trumpeted the oil-rich dictatorship’s victory at the ILO, with sleek photos and drone aerial video sweeps of Geneva’s magnificent Palace of Nations, which is hosting the International Labor Conference.”
“The election of Qatar to the ILO’s annual decision-making assembly took place in Room XIX of Geneva’s Palais des Nations, in the luxurious wood-paneled ‘Qatar Room’ - named in honor of its oil-rich despotic donor,” said Neuer.
“The presidency of the labor rights conference was won by Qatar labor minister Ali bin Samikh Al Marri - even though his name appears in the ‘Qatargate’ scandal in which EU lawmakers allegedly took huge bribes to praise Qatar and downplay its labor rights abuses ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup,” said Neuer.
BREAKING: Qatar, which caused 7,000 migrant workers to die laboring for the FIFA World Cup, was elected to head the @ILO's International Labor Conference. Right after the New York Times exposed Qatar's $25 million influence campaign to silence the ILO on its abuse of workers. pic.twitter.com/xvbzZrPRXF
- Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) June 7, 2023
5/ Neutrality at the UN: The election of #Qatar to head the @ILO's annual decision-making assembly actually took place in Room XIX of Geneva’s Palais des Nations, in the luxurious wood-panelled “Qatar Room” - named in honor of its oil-rich despotic donor. https://t.co/z5ymMlfjfM
- Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) June 7, 2023
