Vinci Constructions Grands Projets, a subsidiary of the construction group, is continued for three projects related to the organization of the sports competition.
by Rémi Dupré and Thomas Saintourens
Ten days before the opening match of the Football World Cup in Qatar, a few hours before the television revelation of the list of French team players called upon to play the tournament, a subsidiary of the construction group French Vinci was indicted on Wednesday, November 9, as part of a judicial information on the working conditions of employees on sites related to the event.
Three chiefs of indictment target Vinci Construction Grand Projects (VCGP), present on Qataris projects since 2007: “submission to working conditions or accommodation incompatible with dignity”, “obtaining the Supply of a person in a situation of vulnerability or dependence of services, with unrelated remuneration “and the” reduction in bondage “for alleged facts between 2011 and 2014, the Nanterre prosecutor’s office, originally of the decision.
This long -term file has been chaotic. As early as 2015, while the emirate is a vast concrete and sand project, a first complaint from Sherpa had targeted the construction group, before being classified without follow -up in 2018. The survey will be reopened in November 2019 at the Continuation of complaints with constitution of civil parties emanating from Sherpa associations and Committee against modern slavery (CCEM), alongside twelve ex-employees of these sites, from India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
“We can congratulate ourselves on this indictment on the foundations selected. It is a very strong signal for these multinationals which can take advantage of modern slavery. It is the first time that a large French group du CAC 40 is indicted on these foundations, “says Sandra Cossart, the director of the NGO Sherpa.
Three sites in the viewfinder of the complainants
This dossier illustrates the drifts of the policy of major works of the emirate, with a massive recourse to migrant workers employed under precarious conditions, both material and legal. Surveys on this question- including that of the British daily the Guardian , estimating in 2021 the number of deaths at 6,500 on construction sites – feed the debates on the boycott of the competition, at a time when national selections are preparing to refine their tactics.
In the viewfinder of the complainants are three sites. First that of the tram connecting Doha, the capital, to the new city of Lusail which will host the inaugural match and the final of the World Cup in its stadium of 80,000 places, all in roundness and gilding. Then those of the underground parking lots of Lusail. And finally the site of landscaped parks and parking lots of the Sheraton hotel, located in the center of Doha, a luxury establishment that will refuel during the event.
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