At least 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka died during the 10-year construction of Qatar’s World Cup in 2022 due to sloppy working conditions and a lack of training, according to The Guardian. The shocking figure is likely to be grossly underestimated, as there are no figures available for migrant deaths of workers from Kenya or the Philippines.
Massive development work is underway, in addition to the conversion of Khalifa Stadium and the construction of seven additional stadiums at the World Cup level, as well as a new airport, new hotels, new roads and public transport, and a whole new city which is only being built for the World Cup final celebrations.
Qatar’s human rights record has been under scrutiny since the country won the bid to host the international event. Amnesty International has published a damning report accusing the rich country of lying to migrants to lure them to work. Many workers paid hefty fees to recruitment firms hired by the Qatari government to cover transportation and accommodation. Many of them could not afford the fees, and therefore they got loans that they had to repay.
After arriving in Qatar, they are allegedly forced to live in bad conditions and are not paid on time or what they were promised. “Workers often live in cramped, dirty and unsafe accommodation,” Amnesty International reported. “Recruitment agents also make false promises about the salary that workers will receive and the type of work offered. One employee promised a salary of $ 300 a month in Nepal, but it turned out to be $ 190 once he started working in Qatar. ‘
Payments are also often delayed, which does not allow workers to send money back home or make payments on recruitment-related loans that they often had to take out.
The Guardian It is estimated that during the last ten years since Qatar’s attempt to host the event, an average of 12 migrant workers from South Asian countries have died each week. This can be twice as high as records of other deaths of migrant people.
Many of the deaths are due to the fact that workers were poorly trained in the safety of the construction site and the extreme heat conditions of the Arab country, but some died in their sleeping places. A 29-year-old man from Bangladesh named Mohammad Shahid Miah died when floodwaters in his room came into contact with an exposed electric cable and he, according to the Guardian.
Amnesty International also reports that all the migrant workers they interviewed were deprived of their identity documents on arrival and did not receive renewed residence permits, meaning they could not leave the country. The workers are also prohibited from changing jobs so that they adhere to contracts signed without legal advice.
According to Amnesty International, the average monthly salary of those who are converting the Khalifa Stadium for the games is $ 220, while the main contractor is paid more than $ 35 million.
Qatar’s Supreme Committee on Delivery and Legacy (SC) and the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Human Rights Committee for Qatar earlier this month to raise awareness of human rights issues in the delivery of the World Cup. ‘The SC has worked tirelessly to protect the health, safety and well-being of all workers involved in the Qatar 2022 project. We are proud of our achievements over the past ten years and strongly believe that our actions have created a measure of excellence – not just in Qatar, but around the world and around the world, ” Hassan al-Thawadi, Secretary General of the Supreme Court Committee on Delivery and Legacy, said.
The World Cup will be held from November 21 and December 18, 2022, with 32 teams participating in eight stadiums.