Soccer World Cup 2022: Thousands of dead guest workers in Qatar

More than 6,500 guest workers, mostly young men, have died in Qatar since the desert emirate was awarded the contract to host the 2022 World Cup in 2010. This emerges from a report in the British daily “Guardian”.

 The  “Guardian” refers to data from government sources in five Asian countries. According to this, 5,927 migrant workers from India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka died between 2011 and 2020. In addition, the Pakistani embassy in Qatar reported a further 824 deaths of Pakistani workers during the same period.

Not all countries included

 The  actual total death toll is likely higher due to the lack of data from countries such as Kenya and the Philippines.  The  deaths from the final months of 2020 are also not yet listed.

Ambitious infrastructure program

More than two million guest workers currently live in the country. With their help, the authoritarian desert state launched an ambitious infrastructure program after the 2022 World Cup was awarded – the construction of seven stadiums, an airport, and investments in roads and local public transport.

 The  government of Qatar does not doubt the figures from the Guardian.  The  death rate is – so she writes – with the large number of guest workers demographically considered within the expected range.

 The  government regrets every single death and is doing everything possible to prevent deaths.

WM-OK speaks of 34 deaths

 The  statistics cited by the Guardian do not reveal exactly where the guest workers died in Qatar. According to the World Cup organizing committee in Qatar, 34 guest workers were killed on World Cup construction sites – this exclusively refers to stadium construction – during the period mentioned.

 The se figures are transparent and other “misleading” information about deaths on the World Cup construction sites is in doubt.

 The  world football association FIFA also describes the number of accidents on World Cup construction sites in Qatar as “low” compared to other major construction sites in the world.

International Criticism

 The re had been repeated international criticism of the working conditions on the emirate’s construction sites.

 The  WDR magazine “Sport inside” reported on it several times in articles. Qatar always rejected this criticism. Last summer the government launched a reform program designed to improve the situation of migrant workers.