Better accommodation for some, new payment rules for everyone. But despite the reforms, many workers still complain of low pay and long hours
It’s an incongruous location for a cricket stadium. In the shimmering heat of Doha’s industrial zone, amid a wasteland of low-rise factories, garages and unpaved roads, the 24,000-seater venue, complete with electronic scoreboard and a healthy-looking grass pitch, seems out of place.
The new ground was built for Qatar’s legion of south Asian labourers to relax in during the few leisure hours they get – just one of the improvements being trumpeted by the authorities as they move to tackle the horrendous living and working conditions exposed by the Guardian.