London, May 31: Two hundred and seventy-nine migrant workers from India, one of the largest migrant worker sending countries, died in 2014 in Qatar – the host of 2022 FIFA World Cup, Amnesty International has said in its latest report.
Titled ‘Promising Little, Delivering Less: Qatar and Migrant Abuse ahead of the 2022 Football World Cup’, the report cites official statistics of the government of India. The total figure of migrant workers’ death is from all causes, including fatalities not directly related to labour conditions.
“Four hundred and forty-one migrant workers from India and Nepal have died in Qatar in 2014,” says the report, which puts the number of Nepalese deaths at 162.
At the heart of Qatar’s construction boom and the unprecedented global scrutiny on the country is the 2022 FIFA Football World Cup. Three issues have dominated global media coverage of the World Cup in Qatar: allegations of corruption in the tournament bidding process; concerns about the summer temperatures in Qatar; and the exploitation of migrant construction workers.
Bilateral agreements between Qatar and several countries, including Nepal, the Philippines and India, oblige Qatari employers to bear the cost of hiring workers from labour-sending countries. But most of the time rules are not followed.
“My company has never given me my ID so at any time the police can arrest me and I will be stuck in jail. Because of this I rarely leave my camp. My life is just the construction site and this dirty room,” said Ganga Prasad, a construction worker. PTI
