VOA慢速英语：世界杯举办国的建筑工人待遇

Russiaand Qatar are busy preparing for the next twoFIFA World Cups. Activists say the two countries havehuman rights issues they need to correct. They giveexamples of employers abusing work crews at WorldCup sites. Some of the workers are reported to besetting up buildings or other structures for the games. The activists also note a lack of labor protections inboth Russia and Qatar. In some cases, they say, thelack of protections has led to death.

In May, the British Broadcasting Corporationdocumented the jailing of its crew in Qatar. The crewmembers were arrested after they attempted to film theliving conditions of poor migrant workers in Doha, thecapital. The workers were helping to prepare the city for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The crew’s cameras weretaken and never returned.

The Guardian newspaper reported on Nepalesemigrants who worked on a project tied to the World Cupstadium. It said that the migrants died at a rate of oneevery two days in 2014. Qatar’s Labor Ministry disputesthe report.

The group Human Rights Watch says many employerstry to threaten or frighten migrant workers. It says somebusinesses take the workers’ passports so they cannotleave the country.

Jane Buchanan works for Human Rights Watch.

“They are extremely vulnerable, both because of the government’s disregard for basic labor protections and the conduct ofemployers who act with impunity in that kind of environment.”

Jeff Thinnes is a specialist on business ethics. He says many of the migrantworkers are from Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. He saysthey often are treated as slave laborers. He believes young people around theworld will one day protest the workers’ treatment and pressure companies toforce Russia and Qatar to make changes.

“I think once the millennials get a hold of this, once you see more traffic onsocial media, it’s going to force the other stakeholders -- including thecorporate sponsors who put their names and their reputations into playwhen they sponsor activities like those managed by FIFA -- you know, to askthemselves ‘Is this what we should be doing? Is this the best way for us toinvest?’”

Jane Buchanan says that Qatar and Russia should protect workers. But shesays FIFA also has a responsibility to make sure the laborers are notsuffering. And she says the organization must also work to keep fromrepeating earlier mistakes.

“What we saw with the Sochi Winter Olympics was ramped on exploitationof migrant workers building the infrastructure and venues, (and) realdisregard on the part of the Russian government until the very last minute toinspect and hold employers accountable for those abuses. So I think thatsends a pretty strong signal that those kinds of practices are basically tolerated.”

Russian lawmakers have proposed using prisoners to help develop areas for the 2018 World Cup. Ms. Buchanan says that could place the prisoners atextreme risk of being forced to work as slaves. She says the Russiangovernment has already weakened labor protections for workers at the WorldCup site.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

VOA’s Ramon Taylor reported on this story from New York. ChristopherJones-Cruise adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

site – n. the place or area where something is, was, or will be

stadium – n. a sports center

vulnerable – adj. easily hurt or harmed

disregard– n. the act of ignoring something or treating something asunimportant

basic –adj. the most important parts of something

impunity – n. freedom from punishment, harm or loss

stakeholder – n. a person or business that has invested money, time orreputation in something

sponsor– n. a person or organization that pays the cost of an activity orevent in return for the right to advertise during the activity or event

reputation– n. public image; the common opinion that people have aboutsomeone or something

exploit– v. to use in a way that helps you unfairly

infrastructure– n. the basic equipment and structures that are needed for acountry, area or operation to operate properly

venue – n. the place where an event takes place

accountable – adj. required to explain actions or decisions to someone

basically – adv. used to show that a statement is expressing the mostimportant reason for something

tolerate – v. to allow (something that is bad or unpleasant) to exist