It all happens very quickly after Malcolm has been arrested by the authorities in Doha.

For months, the man from Uganda had been waiting for the promised salary as a courier for the Talabat delivery service, a subsidiary of the German delivery company Delivery Hero in the Middle East.

Malcolm, whose real name is different, complained to the local authorities.

However, they preferred to follow a tip from his employer that he had not shown up for work.

For the migrant worker this means: He has to go back home.

A few days after his arrest, Malcolm is on a plane.

In the meantime he has arrived safely in Uganda – but he has still not received the wages for his work in Qatar.

Maximilian Sachsen

Editor in Business

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Like Malcolm, nearly 50 couriers for Talabat have still not received compensation for unpaid salaries.

The migrant workers, most of whom came from Africa, delivered food for Talabat via two subcontractors in the capital, Doha.

In mid-January, the FAZ reported on the poor working conditions for many Talabat drivers in Qatar and had already spoken to Malcolm.

The human rights organization Fair Square accused Delivery Hero in two letters that almost 80 drivers from the subcontractors Infinity Limousines and Infinity Delivery Services had not received a salary for months.

In many cases, those who complained to the authorities were deported.

Delivery Hero confirmed the allegations in principle.

The Berlin company has since responded to the allegations in a letter to Fair Square and described its reaction to the events in Doha.

The letter is available to the FAZ.

238 Infinity employees also worked for Talabat, it says.

An internal investigation revealed that 48 of these 238 couriers were affected by the events at the former subcontractors.

In addition to delays in salary payments, only "small amounts" of physical evidence of other misconduct were found.

Nevertheless, the contract with the Infinity companies was terminated because the companies had violated the rules of conduct for partner companies.

According to FAZ information, the former subcontractors even want to sue Talabat.

Hoping for the authorities in Qatar

Talabat also forwarded the results of the internal investigation to the responsible Ministry of Labor in Doha, which in turn is investigating the processes.

Delivery Hero hopes that the authorities in Doha will ensure that the cheated couriers receive the salaries Infinity owes them.

In addition, both Fair Square and Delivery Hero have approached the United Nations International Labor Organization.

However, simply transferring the money to the couriers yourself is not an option for Delivery Hero.

According to company circles, the company does not want to set a precedent.

If the group were to pay the salaries themselves, partner companies could simply not pay a salary in the future and rely on Delivery Hero stepping in.

However, Fair Square believes it is unlikely that money will end up with the men who have already been deported via the existing system for back pay in Qatar.

Delivery Hero wants to make a profit across the group for the first time this year.

In order to achieve this goal, the group recently announced that it would lay off 4 percent of its administrative workforce.

This corresponds to 156 digits.

In Qatar, Talabat is now launching a nationwide campaign to make drivers aware of their rights.

There are a variety of ways to report bad working conditions to Talabat or the authorities.

Malcolm from Uganda shouldn't be much of a consolation though.