Qatar is slated to host the FIFA 2022 World Cup, but migrant workers, mostly from Nepal, are dying by the dozens on construction sites for the international football championship, having succumbed to unbearable working and living conditions, according to new reports from The Guardian.
At least 44 Nepalese workers died between June 4 and August 8, according to documents from Nepal's embassy in Doha, and more than half died from heart attacks, cardiac failure and head injuries from accidents, The Guardian reported. Many workers live in crowded, unsanitary conditions and have gone months without pay. Some report being refused free drinking water and working without meals. Employers often confiscate passports and working papers, and without the exit permits needed to leave the oil-rich state, the migrants are trapped with no way to escape. These conditions meet the definition of slavery as defined by the International Labor Organization, The Guardian noted.
The majority of migrant workers go to Qatar through employment agencies which charge fees for their services. The workers arrive in the country indebted to these agencies, a situation only worsened by non-payment.
In reaction to the news of the appalling labor abuses, Jim Boyce, a FIFA vice-president, has called for an immediate investigation. Organizers have said they will hold all contractors working on football stadiums for the competition to a new code of conduct.
The news comes less than a week before the FIFA executive committee will meet in Geneva to discuss moving the event to the winter months, given the region's scorching summer temperatures which can reach 122 degrees fahrenheit (50 degrees celsius).
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