북한 노동자 수천명, "카타르 건설현장서 '노예 노동'"North Koreans working as ‘state-sponsored slaves’ in Qatar

가디언 보도…"북한 정부에 임금 대부분 강탈당해"

 

source The Guardian

 

2022년 월드컵 개최지인 카타르 건설현장에서 일하는 북한의 이주 노동자 수천명이 임금 대부분을 북한 정부에 강탈당하고 있다고 영국 일간 가디언이 7일(현지시간) 보도했다.   이 매체는 현지 북한 노동자와 탈북자들의 증언을 토대로, 북한 정부가 지난 3년간 카타르에서 일하는 자국 노동자들의 급여 중 90% 이상을 챙겼다고 전했다.   이들 노동자들은 본국으로 돌아갈 때 급여를 모아갈 수 있다는 기대감으로 일하지만, 실제로는 급여의 10%에도 못 미치는 금액을 받거나 아예 한푼도 받지 못하는 것으로 나타났다.   수도 도하의 건설현장에서 일하는 한 북한 노동자는 "우리는 정부에 외화를 벌어주기 위해 이곳에 와있다"고 말했다.   북핵과 인권 문제 등으로 국제사회의 제재를 받는 북한으로서는 외국의 북한 노동자들이 벌어들이는 돈이 주된 외화 창출원이다.   2022년 월드컵 결승전이 열리는 카타르 루자일 신도시에도 북한 노동자들이 일하는 건설현장이 4곳 있는 것으로 알려졌다. 다만, 이들이 속한 건설현장이 월드컵경기장 건설현장인지는 확인되지 않았다.   루자일 건설현장 중 한곳에서 만난 북한 노동자는 가디언과의 인터뷰에서 "보통 우리 같은 사람들은 임금을 받지 않는다"며 "돈이 개인적으로 직접 들어오는 일은 없다"고 말했다.   북한 노동자들은 아침부터 일을 시작해 다른 국적 노동자들이 현장을 떠난 뒤에도 오래 남아 밤까지 일한다고 가디언은 전했다.   인권단체인 국제노예노동반대기구(ASI)의 에이던 맥퀘이드 대표는 카타르 북한 노동자들의 임금 강탈과 지나친 노동 강도 등을 거론하며 "정부 주도의 강제 노동"이라고 비판했다.   카타르 정부에 등록된 북한 노동자들은 모두 2천800명에 달한다.   카타르 노동사회부 대변인은 "북한 노동자들로부터 임금이나 처우 관련 민원이 접수되지는 않았다"며 "우리 정부는 전세계 각국에서 온 노동자들의 근로 여건 향상을 위해 계속해서 노력하고 있다"고 밝혔다.   탈북자 단체들에 따르면 전세계에 나가 있는 북한 노동자는 모두 6만5천명에 달하며 주로 러시아와 중국, 몽골, 중동 등에 분포해 있다. (서울=연합뉴스) 이유미 기자 gatsby@yna.co.kr

 

North Koreans working

as ‘state-sponsored slaves’ in Qatar

 

North Korean on a construction site in Qatar. Claims that workers are denied most

of their wages may point to forced labour. Photograph: Pete Pattisson for the Guardian

 

Defectors claim Pyongyang regime pockets 90% or more of earnings made by migrants working on construction sites in Qatar, where preparations are under way for 2022 World Cup • Qatar’s ambitions driven on by North Korean ‘forced labour’   Pete Pattisson in Doha Thousands of migrant labourers from North Korea are toiling for years on construction sites in Qatar for virtually no pay – including on the vast new metropolis that is the centrepiece of the World Cup – in what may amount to “state-sponsored slavery”.   According to testimonies from workers and defectors, labourers from the reclusive state said they receive almost no salaries in person while in the Gulf emirate during the three years they typically spend there.   They work in the expectation they will collect their earnings when they return to North Korea, but according to a series of testimonies from defectors and experts, workers receive as little as 10% of their salaries when they go home, and some may receive nothing. One North Korean worker at a construction site in central Doha told the Guardian: “We are here to earn foreign currency for our nation.”   The North Korean regime, led by Kim Jong-un, is currently subject to international sanctions as it continues to defy calls to end its nuclear programme and address severe human rights abuses. A recent UN report accused the regime of crimes against humanity. The foreign currency earned by its overseas workforce is a crucial tool for propping up the isolated country’s fragile economy.   In the sprawling construction zone that will eventually become Qatar’s gleaming $45bn (£28bn) Lusail City, where the 2022 World Cup final will be held, four construction sites are said to be using North Korean workers, although there is no suggestion they are involved in building World Cup stadiums.   On one site, North Koreans battled biting desert sands and searing heat to construct a luxury residential tower. They laboured on as day turned to night, long after workers from other nationalities had left the site.   One North Korean worker helping to build the high-rise said: “People like us don’t usually get paid. The money does not come to the person directly. It’s nothing to do with me, it’s the [North Korean recruitment] company’s business.”   A project manager of the lavish development said the workers “don’t have a single rial themselves” and “borrow money from us if they need small things like cigarettes”.   “The descriptions of the conditions North Korean workers endure in Qatar – abuse of vulnerability, withholding of wages and excessive overtime – are highly indicative of state-sponsored trafficking for forced labour,” a modern form of slavery, said Aidan McQuade, the director of Anti-Slavery International.   Sources in Qatar estimate there may be as many as 3,000 North Koreans working on projects across the emirate. They are part of an army of workers the North Korean regime exports around the world to bring in much-needed foreign currency. According to defectors’ groups, there may be as many as 65,000 North Koreans abroad, mainly working in Russia, China, Mongolia and the Middle East.   Kim Joo-il, a former army officer who escaped North Korea in 2005, estimates that the Pyongyang government typically takes 70% of the total salary of workers abroad, and that after all “fees”, notionally for food and accommodation, have been paid, workers will be left with only 10% of their salary.   According to a report by the North Korea Strategy Centre, a defector-run organisation based in South Korea: “Almost all of the wages of the workers sent abroad are remitted back to Kim Jong-un’s regime … in very extreme cases, the workers are allowed to have 10% of their wages.”   Two employees of state-run North Korean recruitment firms operating in Qatar admitted that their workers do not receive their salaries in person, but insisted a proportion of their wages are sent back to the workers’ families in North Korea.   Earlier this year, in its annual Trafficking in Persons report, the US state department criticised the treatment of foreign workers sent to earn foreign currency by the regime. It said that many North Korean Workers were subject to forced labour, their movements and communications conducted under surveillance, and that they face threats of government reprisals if they attempt to escape or complain. “Workers’ salaries are deposited into accounts controlled by the North Korean government, which keeps most of the money … workers only receive a fraction of the money paid to the North Korean government for their work,” the report said.   Qatar’s treatment of its migrant labourers has come under increasing scrutiny as it gears up for the 2022 World Cup, following a Guardian report last year that revealed widespread deaths and abuse among migrant workers. In May 2014 the emirate announced a series of reforms to improve their living and working conditions.   A spokesperson from the ministry of labour and social affairs said: “We take all issues around worker payment extremely seriously. There are currently 2,800 North Korean guest workers registered in Qatar and we have no recorded complaints about their payment or treatment. Qatar is determined to continually improve labour conditions for all who work in the country, and will continue to work with NGOs, businesses and other governments to achieve this.”

 

 

 

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