Every week, an average of twelve guest workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka die in Qatar.
The Guardian has obtained the information from the said nations.
The total number of guest workers who lost their lives while working on one of the World Cup projects is probably much higher because people from countries such as the Philippines and Kenya are missing from the statistics. It also lacks figures from the last months of last year.
Massive criticism
Qatar has received massive international criticism for what Amnesty International and others describe as slave-like conditions for the workers who build the World Cup facilities.
Qatar is investing in seven new arenas, a brand new city, a new airport, new roads and a new public transport facility.
The work is mainly performed by guest workers from Asia and Africa.
“A significant proportion of guest workers who have lost their lives since 2011 were in the country simply because Qatar won the World Cup finals,” Nick McGeehan of FairSquare Projects told The Guardian.
“Playground for unscrupulous”
An estimated two million guest workers are in Qatar. Recently, they received a statutory minimum wage of around SEK 2,500 a month.
“Despite Qatar’s promises of reform, this remains a playground for unscrupulous employers,” Amnesty International stated in its September 2019 report, All Work, No Pay.
The Qatari government does not question The Guardian’s data on the number of dead, but claims that the number is as expected given the number of guest workers who have been or are in the country.
According to a government spokesman, the working environment has improved and workplace accidents have decreased in recent years.
“Every loss of life is a tragedy and we do everything we can to prevent deaths,” the spokesman told The Guardian.
In March, Sweden begins the qualifying game for the World Cup.
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