Over 6,500 migrants, including 2,711 Indians, have died working on Qatar’s World Cup-related projects
It’s called “The beautiful game”. The loftiest event of the sport, known as the World Cup, garners the maximum number of viewers in any discipline of any sporting contest across the globe. The “greatest spectacle on Earth” involves glamour, charisma, passion, superhuman athleticism, national pride and, certainly not the least, zillions of dollars for the host country as well as for the Zurich-headquartered Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) in television broadcast and other rights. The FIFA World Cup taxes the host nation a lot in terms of manpower, infrastructure and other facilities, but the monetary returns far outweigh the cost input and the moolah raked in is a purse bigger than what you’d see from any other event, even the Olympics. And Qatar is the proud host of the next edition of the World Cup in November 2022. But behind all the glitz and razzmatazz of the shiny stadia and the spruced setup in the Persian Gulf nation, is a sordid tale of hardships, torture and human rights abuse, ending in death. According to The Guardian, thousands of migrant workers have died in Qatar since it was unexpectedly chosen as the host for the extravaganza in December 2010.
More than 6,500 migrant labourers from five South Asian countries — India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died, on an average of 12 deaths each week, according to the British daily. While 2,711 of those who died hailed from India, Nepali workers accounted for 1,641 deaths, followed by Bangladesh at more than 1,000 and Pakistan 824. With inconsistent and imprecise records, it is difficult to assess the exact causes for the deaths but official records range from “blunt trauma” to “asphyxia” and “hanging”, though the most common is “natural death”. The actual toll is likely to be significantly higher given that the analysis did not include deaths from other countries known to send large numbers of workers to Qatar, such as Kenya and the Philippines. It is likely that a significant number of the total deaths occurred on projects related to the World Cup as Qatar has undertaken a massive construction programme to prepare for the tournament, including building seven stadiums, a new airport as well as broad additions to its public transportation network. It’s time for the Indian Government, as well as the United Nations Human Rights Council, to finally take cognisance of the pitiable working and dwelling conditions of migrant workers in Qatar and censure it severely.
