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February 25, 2021

6,500 Migrant Workers Have Died in Qatar Since It Was Named Host of 2022 World Cup
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The Guardian reports more than 6,500 migrant workers from India,
Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died in Qatar since it
won the right in 2010 to host the 2022 World Cup. That's an average of
12 migrant worker deaths per week. Many of the dead were employed on
construction sites for the World Cup's seven new soccer stadiums and
massive public works projects tied to the upcoming tournament.

Qatar's government claims most of the deaths were due to "natural
causes," but workers' advocates have tied many of them to heat stress
from scorching temperatures at worksites, as well as workplace
accidents, crowded and unsanitary conditions in labor camps and deaths
by suicide.

In 2012, Democracy Now! traveled to Qatar's capital, Doha, where we
spoke with Nepalese labor journalist Devendra Dhungana.

Devendra Dhungana: "They are living in very squalid conditions you
couldn't just believe - 17 people living in one room, 50 people sharing
one small kitchen, and there's no fire extinguisher service there, no
running water, and 50 people have to queue up in the morning to use one
toilet. … They felt they were under captivity and a kind of modern
slavery was there in Qatar, because their passports were seized by the
company, and they will not have the right to return home, even in
emergency situations, because they are not easily issued the exit
papers."

Click here to see our interview with journalist Devendra Dhungana in
Doha about the plight of Qatar's migrant workers.


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