Read this before you get on your moral high horse about Qatar

Many Western criticisms we’ve heard over the past few weeks are rooted in Islamophobia and hypocrisy

As England walk onto the pitch tonight, we should be reflecting on the rights of migrants and the LGBT+ community – not just in Qatar, but here in the UK. Because while we are deeply saddened by – and support condemnation of – human rights abuses in Qatar, many western criticisms we’ve heard over the past few weeks are rooted in Islamophobia. Not just that, but they are unhelpful in solving the problem too.

Many have been quick to condemn the rampant exploitation of migrant workers in Qatar, without reflecting on what is happening on their home turf. We have been aware of the dire situation facing migrant workers in Qatar for years: this condemnation has come far too late. We must also remember the migrant workers who are abused and who die in Europe, too. Nor must we forget the many migrant workers who die at sea due to Fortress Europe’s border violence and a lack of safe routes.

We know from our work and the work of our partners, that exploitation and modern slavery is widespread and growing in the UK. According to our own government, between July and September this year, 4,586 potential victims of modern slavery were referred to the Home Office by the National Referral Mechanism. This is a 10 per cent increase on the previous quarter.

There has also been a lot of condemnation of the treatment of LGBT+ people in Qatar. While of course, we stand against violence towards the LGBT+ community in all its forms, this issue is often weaponised by state actors in geopolitics. Virtue signalling from the west will only harm progress local activists have made on the ground, and will put LGBT+ Qataris at greater risk. The fact of the matter remains that queer rights are seen by the Qatari state as a western import. We must cease engaging in human rights imperialism, and stand in solidarity with queer Qataris. We must respect and amplify their voices and desires.

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A lot of the criticism of Qatar, especially with respect to queer rights, is also inherently Islamophobic. The common narrative is that Islam is a fundamentally “barbaric”, “violent” religion and therefore at odds with LGBT+ liberation. Yet this narrative dismisses a highly obvious point: that LGBT+ Muslims exist and have always existed. As with all religious texts, queer-affirmative interpretations of the Quran do exist, and allow for a beautiful reconciliation of queerness and Islam.

The idea that Qatar’s stance on LGBT+ rights is solely down to Islam ignores the fact that actually, it has more to do with geopolitics and the lasting legacies of western imperialism, than any claim of essentialised cultural or religious backwardness.

Besides, at home the fact that we have “gay clubs” and LGBT+ friendly spaces is because they provide a place where queer communities can feel safe. The world, yes, even in the UK, is still fundamentally unsafe for queer people. And how can we in the west comfortably portray ourselves as defenders of LGBT+ rights, when homophobic and transphobic hate is increasing in the UK? Our trans siblings are being used as a scapegoat and we are watching the few rights they have being eradicated.

It is time that we stop putting ourselves on a righteous pedestal and look inwards. While we want to condemn states, governments and the like when they oppress communities and identities, we cannot stand on a moral high ground while we backtrack on rights for migrants or queer and trans people at home.

Fizza Qureshi, Anastasia Gavalas and Julia Tinsley-Kent are from Migrants' Rights Network