Migrant workers in Qatar forced to pay billions in recruitment fees

Low-wage migrant workers have been forced to pay billions of dollars in recruitment fees to secure their jobs in World Cup host nation Qatar over the past decade, a Guardian investigation has found.

Migrants from Bangladesh and Nepal, who make up around a third of Qatar’s 2-million strong foreign workforce, typically pay fees of $3,000 to $4,000 and $1,000 to $1,500 respectively.

While the centres may have reduced the incidence of “contract substitution” — where workers find different terms and conditions in Qatar to what they were promised at home — experts said they have done little to curb recruitment fees, because these are paid much earlier in the recruitment process.