Migrant workers predicament post Fifa World Cup: ‘There is genuinely no work in Qatar now’

“I haven’t eaten in two days,” says a worker from Guinea currently in Qatar.
Another worker says he has been asking people back home to give him money. Just over 100 days after the conclusion of the Fifa World Cup, migrant workers in Qatar are struggling to find work, according to a report in The Guardian.
Those with ‘free visas’ – many of whom The Guardian spoke to – under which they can find jobs, have not had the opportunity to work for months.
“Ironic, isn’t it?” says a worker. “We are in the richest country in the world, but we are begging for money from Africa.”

There are also workers who entered the country on Hayya cards, the permit needed to visit Qatar during the World Cup. According to The Guardian, the validity of the card has been extended till next year but it can be used only for tourism. Some of the workers paid nearly $4,500 to agents to get a Hayya card and were promised that they would be given a job on reaching the World Cup destination.
“I used to eat three square meals at home but here it’s difficult to get one. I have been calling friends in Nigeria to help me. I have not earned a single rial since I entered the country. We’re all regretting coming here,” another worker Hakeem says.
“I want to go home, but I don’t want to go home. The money I owe is keeping me here, Ahmad, from Nigeria, said.
According to a source The Guardian spoke to, job opportunities are unlikely to pick up for migrant workers.

“There is genuinely no work here now. No one is recruiting. There’s only so many highways and roads that they need,” the source who works in the construction line in Qatar, said.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino had said before the start of the World Cup that migrant workers get dignity and pride.
“Let’s not forget one thing when we speak about this topic, which is work, even hard work, tough work,” Infantino said. “America is a country of immigration. My parents emigrated as well from Italy to Switzerland. Not so far, but still. When you give work to somebody, even in hard conditions, you give him dignity and pride. It’s not charity.”
According to the report in The Guardian, many of the affected workers are from West Africa – Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Niger.