On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted against a motion calling on the cabinet to travel to the World Cup in Qatar only with a “business, sober” delegation, consisting of Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra (CDA) and the human rights ambassador. Coalition parties D66 and ChristenUnie wanted with the motion to prevent Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) and King Willem-Alexander from going to the World Cup. Reason for the motion are the human rights violations “on a large scale” in the construction of the infrastructure of the World Cup.
Last month, the Rutte IV cabinet had already disregarded a parliamentary motion not to travel to the World Cup at all. Minister Conny Helder (Sports, VVD) said in the House of Representatives on Tuesday that the government’s position with respect to the previous motion is unchanged. “We have decided to continue to engage in a constructive-critical dialogue with Qatar,” said Helder during question time. However, the minister said that “austerity is appropriate” for the government delegation. According to Helder, it has not yet been decided who will ultimately be delegated.
Also read: The difference between the Winter Games in Sochi and the World Cup in Qatar? The position of the king
Minister ‘in deliberation’ about compensation fund
Before the motion was put to the vote, SP MP Jasper van Dijk made a statement of vote, in which he stated that his party would vote against in principle: the party is against sending any government delegation whatsoever. Only the submitters of the motion, in addition to D66 and ChristenUnie also JA21, voted in favour. On a proposal by ChristenUnie party chairman Gert-Jan Segers to donate money to a compensation fund for migrant workers who worked on the construction of World Cup infrastructure, Helder says he will “consider”.
Despite strong opposition to a prominent government delegation, the cabinet is therefore standing firm. Prime Minister Rutte previously called Qatar “too important” for a boycott. In particular, the Netherlands has major energy interests in the Gulf state. Now that Russian gas imports in Europe have largely disappeared, the government hopes to purchase more liquid gas (LNG) from Qatar. Shell has also built a large installation in Qatar that makes liquid fuel products from gas, and the Dutch companies BAM and Boskalis have contributed to the construction of the stadiums and infrastructure for the World Cup.
The World Cup in Qatar will take place between November 20 and December 18 this year.
Also read this research story: Stadiums built, lives ruined: the stories of the workers in Qatar