In 2010, Qatar won the right to host the 2022 World Cup — a decision that was met with protest from the International Trade Union Confederation and other entities due to ongoing instances of worker abuse in the country. Migrant workers are particularly vulnerable, as they labor under the kafala (sponsorship) system, which prevents workers from leaving the country or changing jobs without permission from their employers. But FIFA refused to alter the decision, and so Qatar proceeded with the enormous infrastructural undertakings demanded by the international competition — to the tune of 110 hotels, eight stadiums, and three entire new cities. Thousands of migrant workers flooded into the country to fill the glut of new construction and hospitality jobs. The problem wasn’t finding jobs so much as leaving those that proved abusive, exploitative, or dangerous.

Migrant workers are forbidden from unionizing and struggle to access justice, while their employers receive virtual impunity under the law. Bosses can cancel their workers’ residency permits with a single tap on an app, thrusting workers into a 90-day scramble to get out of Qatar before they can be arrested and deported. This is a common mode of retaliation against workers who have filed complaints about workplace abuse and wage theft.

While Qatari legislators have made some amendments to the kafala system, many migrant workers remain subject to exit-permit requirements, which restrict their freedom of movement by mandating authorization from their employers to exit the country. Those who fail to seek out permits suffer a sliding scale of consequences, ranging from slashed financial benefits to a subsequent ban on reentering Qatar. And even for workers to whom the exit-permit requirement no longer applies (as of January 2020), weak implementation of reforms leaves countless workers as vulnerable as ever to their employers’ caprices.