A HUMAN rights group has accused England’s Football Association (FA) of failing to back calls to improve migrant workers’ rights in Qatar as the men’s Fifa World Cup draws closer.

Amnesty International UK levelled the allegation in a statement today saying that that the FA is “lagging behind” after its Welsh counterpart (FAW) called for “significant improvements” for Qatar’s migrant workers earlier this week.

On Tuesday, the FAW posted its position on human, women, LGBTQ+ and workers’ issues in the Western-backed dictatorship, as well as addressing whether the Wales national team should boycott the tournament — doing so "would only hinder any progress made in Qatar," it said.

As for the widely reported abuses of migrants working on World Cup infrastructure and facilities, the FAW said that though “significant progress” has been made, it "does however want to see further significant and lasting improvements in the conditions of migrant workers in Qatar with ongoing support provided through the concept of a Migrant Workers Centre.”

The English FA has yet to explicitly support a Migrant Workers Centre, Amnesty UK said. The organisation's economic affairs director Peter Frankental said the upcoming tournament “has only been made possible through the exploitation of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers.

“It’s absolutely right that the FAW is supporting efforts to try to finally do something to address this massive abuse,” Frankental said.

“Setting up a permanent Migrant Workers Centre in [the Qatari capital city of] Doha is one way of seeking to ensure that improved conditions and proper workers’ rights are a lasting legacy of Qatar 2022, but the Welsh FA should also back our call on Fifa to set aside $440 million [£370m] for a workers’ compensation fund.

“Fifa is set to make colossal sums from the World Cup, yet it ignored human rights risks in awarding the tournament to Qatar and it has been slow to respond to reports of the non-payment and abuse of workers.

“Nothing can bring dead workers back to life or restore the dignity of those who were trapped in conditions amounting to modern-day slavery during Qatar’s World Cup building boom, but a workers’ fund would be an important move.

“By comparison to Wales, the English FA is lagging behind on Qatari labour rights issues and we would urge the FA to match the FAW’s position over the creation of a permanent Migrant Workers Centre, as well as offering support to a Fifa fund for workers.”

When asked for comment, the FA referred the Star to a December 2021 article outlining its position.

The statement reads: “[… W]e believe that there is evidence of substantial progress being made by Qatar in relation to workers’ rights. However, we recognise there is still more to be done and that the positive steps made in legislation aren’t yet being implemented universally.

“Our view remains that change is best achieved by working collaboratively with others so that we can continue to ask the right questions, while always being mindful that we also have our own human rights challenges in this country.”

Meanwhile, in response to the FAW’s statement, Wales’s LGBTQ+ support group The Rainbow Wall clarified why it is boycotting the tournament.

In regard to LGBTQ+ rights in Qatar, the FAW statement says: “The FAW believes that everyone should be able to feel safe, that they belong and can be their true authentic selves and wishes to highlight that while assurances have been provided regarding LGBTQ+ fans being safely welcomed in Qatar, an integral brick in the Red Wall will be missing at the tournament.”

On Wednesday, The Rainbow Wall asked: “What about the rights of the LGBTQ+ resident of Qatar?

“How come Qatari authorities can make an exception for us?

“This is a direct reminder that the Qatari authorities do not believe that its own LGBTQ+ residents deserve even basic human rights.”

A report by the Guardian newspaper last year found that more than 6,500 workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died while working on World Cup projects in the country since 2010. But the real figure is thought to be much higher.