After repeated criticisms from groups such as Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch, Qatar has introduced legislation to overhaul its widely criticized migrant worker employment system (known as kafala) and improve safety conditions on sites such as the venues under construction for the 2022 World Cup.
Such pledged reforms have indicated sufficient progress that the United Nations’ International Labour Organization has closed a three-year-old complaint into alleged abuses that third-party observers had deemed “appalling,” “repressive” and “dreadful.” The ILO and Qatar will now enter a three-year period of comprehensive technical cooperation.