More than 6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar since the Gulf country was chosen to host the World Cup, according to an analysis by The Guardian. The newspaper said that the figure was based on government data collected from India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which showed that there were 5,927 deaths between 2011 and 2020. Another 842 workers died from Pakistan between 2010 and 2020. It is likely to be much higher because it does not include countries. Like the Philippines and Kenya, which also have a large number of workers who travel to Qatar for work. Since the death records do not include profession or workplace, they cannot be conclusively linked to the massive construction program that the country has embarked on since its successful bid to host football’s most prestigious tournament. However, the report quotes, quoting FairSquare Projects Director for Professional Advocacy Group, Nick McGeehan, who suggests that “a very large percentage of migrant workers who have died since 2011 have been in the country only because Qatar won the right to host the World Cup.” It reveals that many of the deaths were classified as “natural deaths” due to severe heart failure or respiratory failure, but indicated that many of them were done without an autopsy, and thus do not often explain the underlying causes of the deaths. The Qatari government’s response to the Guardian was that “the death rate among these communities falls within the expected range of population size and demographics. Nevertheless, every loss of life is a tragedy, and we spare no effort in trying to prevent every death in our country.” Construction News has contacted him for further comments. After Qatar won the hosting of the World Cup in 2010, several British construction companies set up joint ventures in the region aimed at working on an anticipated £ 200 billion infrastructure building boom. As the UK recovers from the 2008 financial crisis, the UK Department of Trade and Investment has urged British contractors to bid for projects. At the time, Nick Meredo, Head of Sports Business at Arup UK-MEA, said the Qatar Olympic Committee was “impressed” by the way the UK construction industry was handling the London Olympics. One successful contractor, Carillion, was affected by a 2014 BBC Newsnight investigation that claimed that migrant workers of its subcontractors in Qatar were forced to work in unsafe conditions and wages withheld. The liquidated contractor has since launched an investigation following the report, which also claimed that nearly half of the Nepalese worker deaths in the 2022 World Cup construction program had been blamed for heart attacks to avoid paying compensation. In 2019, a report by an international nonprofit group, the Business and Human Rights Resource Center, alleged that the majority of construction companies working on projects in Qatar and the UAE “failed” to protect workers’ rights. The report included responses to a survey from international companies operating in the region including the former Carillion affiliate Al-Futtaim, Interserve, Ling O’Rourke, Multiplex and Vinci QDVC. Questionnaires were sent to Kier and Bam International but they did not participate.
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