(CNN) Qatar can't seem to shake ongoing controversy in the buildup to soccer's 2022 World Cup -- even as it introduces a set of new laws designed to improve the rights of migrant workers.

The legislation that takes effect on Tuesday is billed as a means of lessening the grip of corporate employers on the Gulf Emirate's 2.1 million expatriates.

However, Amnesty International's report "New Name, Old System?" attacks the new laws as "barely scratching the surface of labor exploitation."

It cites the continuous implementation of exit visas, along with the right to hold employees' passports, as evidence that human rights abuses for its hundreds of thousands of migrant workers are not being addressed forcefully.

Following a pay dispute with Qatari club El Jaish, Belounis was not granted permission to leave the country. He contemplated a hunger strike and even suicide before he was allowed to leave after an intervention by the French government.

Qatar's Government Communications Office vehemently denied Amnesty's claims in a statement on Monday.

"We remain committed to the development of a labor system that is fair to both employers and employees alike," it said. "These new legislative changes, combined with ongoing enforcement and a commitment to systemic reform ... will ensure workers' rights are respected across the entire labor pathway."

The intention to implement new laws was first declared in 2015, in a statement that promised to fine employers for confiscating workers' passports, and unveiled the formation of an Exit Permit Grievances Committee.

It also promised to remove Qatar's heavily criticized "kafala" system, a practice common in the Middle East where expats rely on their employers for visa sponsorships and maintaining legal status.

In general, workers were not allowed to switch jobs without approval from their current employers.

But rather than completely abolish workers' reliance on their employers for residency, the new system means workers' ties to employers will terminate after the length of their contract, or a maximum of five years.

In addition, workers' passports can be requested to be held by Qatari employers in certain cases where they live in confines that are considered at risk of being robbed.

"This new law may get rid of the word 'sponsorship' but it leaves the same basic system intact," Amnesty said in a statement.

"It is good that Qatar has accepted that its laws were fueling abuse, but these inadequate changes will continue to leave workers at the mercy of exploitative bosses."

Kupttamon, an Indian laborer working in Qatar, sits in his room at a private camp housing foreign workers in Doha, on May 3, 2015.

Details are scarce

Details since the plans were revealed have been scarce, and attorneys are still waiting on executive regulations which will clarify exactly how the new rules will be implemented, according to Qatar-based employment lawyer Kamaljit Dosanjh of Al Tamimi & Company.

"I honestly don't see on a day-to-day basis how things will change," Dosanjh told CNN, referring to the plight of foreign workers in Qatar in an interview ahead of the new rules' introduction.

"It seems that the method of applying for an exit permit won't actually change with effect from tomorrow," she added, while stressing that she would not know for sure until she received the executive regulations, expected to be released on Tuesday.

Measuring the effectiveness of the new laws would also take some time, she noted.

Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress Qatar's grand plan – The Khalifa International Stadium "will fit 40,000 spectators and be completely cooled, including the field of play, all seats and concourses," soccer's world governing body FIFA said in September 2015. But what's the human cost of this World Cup venue's construction? Hide Caption 1 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress Amnesty accusation – In a new report published on Thursday, human rights organization Amnesty International said it had found evidence of "systematic abuses," including forced labor of migrant workers at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha. Hide Caption 2 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress Qatar's World Cup win – In December 2010, then FIFA president Sepp Blatter revealed Qatar as host of the 2022 World Cup at a ceremony in Zurich, Switzerland. But both Qatar and FIFA soon faced allegations about poor working conditions and abuse of immigrant workers brought in to build the facilities for the tournament. Hide Caption 3 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress Glittering prize – Men at a shoemaker's stall sit by a replica of the World Cup trophy soon after the hosting award brought announcements of a wide variety of infrastructure projects, including the construction of new stadiums and roads. Hide Caption 4 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress 'A stain on the conscience of football' – "For players and fans, a World Cup stadium is a place of dreams," Amnesty International general secretary Salil Shetty said. "For some of the workers who spoke to us, it can feel like a living nightmare." Hide Caption 5 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress Evidence of 'abuses' – FIFA and its sponsors should push for change, or risk being "tainted by association," Amnesty warned. But in a statement, Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy said it was "committed to ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of every worker on World Cup projects." Hide Caption 6 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress Big-money developments – An artist's impression shows what the finished Khalifa stadium will look like. Qatar is spending a reported $200 billion -- more than any previous World Cup host -- on nine new air-conditioned stadiums, the major refurbishment of three venues and infrastructure. Hide Caption 7 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress Examining conditions – A worker bedroom in the Al Wakrah camp, pictured in May 2015. Amnesty's fifth investigative, in-depth Qatar World Cup report is its first since Gianni Infantino was elected as FIFA president in February 2016. Hide Caption 8 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress 'Squalid, cramped accommodation' – Conditions at the Al Wakrah camp were described as "cramped, dirty and unhygienic." The new Amnesty report describes how many workers are living in "squalid accommodation," but Qatari officials say they are steadily improving the situation from where it stood in 2015 and denied the 2022 World Cup would be "built on the back of exploited workers." Hide Caption 9 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress 'Five years of promises' – Here, a reporter takes a picture of a squalid kitchen at a camp housing foreign workers in Doha in May 2015. The Qatari government has announced new projects to provide better accommodation. Hide Caption 10 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress Returning to base – Foreign laborers working on the construction site of the al-Wakrah football stadium, one of Qatar's World Cup venues, walk back to their accommodation compound after a working day in May 2015. Hide Caption 11 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress 'No reforms' – Amnesty said Gulf desert emirate Qatar had yet to deliver any real labor reforms since becoming the first Middle East nation to win the right to host the World Cup. Hide Caption 12 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress 'Struggling to enforce standards' – Shetty said Qatar's World Cup delivery committee is struggling to enforce the standards it has set companies working on its venues. Hide Caption 13 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress Call for FIFA diligence – Amnesty has urged FIFA to start a "human rights due diligence process" by carrying out its own inspections of labor conditions in Qatar and makings its finding public. Hide Caption 14 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress Sending a message – Demonstrators hold placards calling for change to Qatar's policies on the working conditions of migrant workers ahead of the international friendly between Scotland and Qatar in Edinburgh in June 5, 2015. Hide Caption 15 of 16 Photos: 2022 World Cup: A $200B work in progress Pressure from sponsors – An artist's impression for Qatar's flagship Doha Port stadium prior to the World Cup bid in 2010. Hide Caption 16 of 16

Construction companies which manage thousands of workers and are on deadline to deliver the 12 stadiums for Qatar 2022 will want to stay on pace, Dosanjh said, and are likely to be working alongside the Qatari government to make sure the laws don't hinder their ability to complete on time.

"Behind the scenes, these things are still being nutted out," she added.

Amnesty said it wants Qatar "to conduct a systematic reform of its labor laws that unambiguously abolishes exit permits, completely bans passport confiscation, and frees workers from the requirement to get their employer's permission to change jobs."

"At the halfway point of preparations for the 2022 World Cup, the Qatari authorities have not done enough to address clearly documented human rights issues," it added. "FIFA simply cannot continue to remain shamefully ambivalent to the plight of workers in Qatar."

JUST WATCHED Amnesty International: Qatar World Cup workers abused Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Amnesty International: Qatar World Cup workers abused 03:52

A FIFA spokesman told CNN it "will closely follow the impact of the new law," while urging "the Qatari authorities to implement the new law in a way which significantly increases the protection of the rights of migrant workers employed in the country."

"This is an ongoing process, and of course challenges remain, but FIFA is committed to playing its part in ensuring respect for human rights and to being a leader among international sports organizations in this important area," FIFA president Gianni Infantino said at the time.

Last year Qatar Airways scrapped contracts which allowed its cabin crew to be at risk of being fired if they married or became pregnant within the first five years of employment, after pressure from the International Labor Organization.

This article has been updated to include FIFA's statement on Qatar's new employment laws.