DOHA – Qatar revealed on Tuesday, Feb. 11, a set of guidelines aimed at protecting the rights of thousands of expatriate workers employed on construction projects, as the emirate prepares to host the 2022 football World Cup.

The gas-rich Gulf state, which is under mounting criticism from rights groups over the conditions of migrants working in its booming construction industry, invited the International Labor Organization (ILO) to verify the process of enforcing laws.

Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy released the Workers’ Welfare Standards, which require “contractors to set up bank accounts for their workers, which will help facilitate payment, creating an auditable transaction system that will help the Supreme Committee verify that all workers are being paid in full and on time.”

The standards also laid down specifications for workers’ accommodation, “setting clear guidelines for everything from the number of beds per room to a minimum standard for cleanliness and hygiene.”

The Supreme Committee will require contractors and subcontractors, to ensure “world-class” health and safety for workers, equality in their treatment, and protection of their dignity.

Amnesty International said in November that migrant workers were being treated like “animals,” and urged FIFA to press Qatar to improve the conditions of the foreign labourers, most of them from South Asia.

Amnesty said the workers suffered a series of abuses including “non-payment of wages, harsh and dangerous working conditions, and shocking standards of accommodation”.

The Supreme Committee said it “engaged” the ILO “to look at the entire process from recruitment to living and working conditions upon arrival, and made sure to incorporate all of this into its planning ahead of any major stadium construction work.”