“400 to 500” migrant workers died on the construction sites of the World Cup which is currently taking place in Qatar. This time around, the figures come from Qatari officials. In an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan in his program “Uncensored”, Monday November 28, 2022, the director of the organization of the World Cup, Hassan al-Thawadi revealed a figure much higher than that supported by Doha. His statements, however, do not contradict the previous official position, but the nuance.
Until then, the Qatari authorities have rejected all the figures put forward by surveys and studies, like that of The Guardianwhich had reported 6,500 dead from several Asian countries.
“The estimate is around 400, between 400 and 500 dead”, he said. “I don’t have the exact number. It’s something we’ve already talked about (…) We’ve always been transparent about it (…) One death is already too many. It’s as simple as that”he added during the same interview.
The director of the organization of the World Cup did not deny the previous positions of Doha, which mentioned “only” three work-related migrant worker deaths and 37 non-work-related deaths that occurred “outside working hours”. Hassan al-Thawadi distinguished, during his interview, the migrants who died during the construction of stadiums or during the construction of other infrastructures.
The figure of “400 to 500 migrants” corresponded, this time, to the total number of deaths for the construction of all the infrastructures (hotels, roads, restaurants, etc.) necessary to host the World Cup.
6,500 migrant workers dead, according to The Guardian
Al-Thawadi added that “conditions are improving” for migrant workers in Qatar. He mentioned the establishment “with a minimum monthly salary of 1,000 riyals”, the equivalent of approximately 275 dollars. He also spoke of a better focus on security. “I think every year the health and safety standards at venues are improving, at least at our venues, the World Cup venues, the ones we are responsible for, most certainly”he said.
The number of migrant workers who died in the construction of stadiums or other infrastructure has always been the subject of criticism, speculation but also investigation by journalists and organizations. In February 2021, The Guardian published its investigation in which the newspaper claims that “more than 6,500 workers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka have died in Qatar since the awarding of the organization of the World Cup”in 2010.
The Guardian even wrote that the total number of deaths would be higher, because data from other countries, including the Philippines or Kenya, which have many nationals working in Qatar, have not been collected.
For its part, Doha has always refuted these figures, again and again advancing the much lower official figures of 37 deaths, between 2010 and 2022, all causes of mortality combined.
The (second) focus of Qatar
The figures put forward by Al-Thawadi do not even constitute the new official version of Doha since the number is not unanimous within Qatar itself. A spokesperson for the Supreme Committee made an update on the figures put forward by the director of the organization of the World Cup.
“During the ‘Uncensored’ program hosted by Piers Morgan, the Secretary-General reported that there had been three worker’s fatalities and 37 non-worker’s fatalities on Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC). These figures are published each year in the reports produced by the Committee”we read on Foot Mercato. “They include activities related to the eight stadiums of the competition and those related to the 17 other sites linked to the Tournament and which fall within the scope of the SC. Quotations taken from the interview refer to national statistics for the period 2014 – 2020 for work-related accidents (414 deaths) throughout Qatari territory, all sectors and all nationalities combined”.
A 2019 study of Nepalese migrant workers who died in Qatar, published in the Cardiology Journalmentioned the number of 1,300 deaths, revealing a “strong correlationbetween working in extreme heat and deaths from heart problems.
Reacting to Al-Thawadi’s statements, Steve Cockburn, Head of Economic and Social Justice at Amnesty International, called for “truth, justice and compensation” families of deceased migrant workers.
“The continuing debate around the number of workers who died in the build-up to the World Cup exposes the stark reality that so many bereaved families are still waiting for truth and justice”he added on Tuesday.
“The extreme heat and grueling working conditions in Qatar likely contributed to hundreds of these deaths, but without thorough investigations, the true scale of lives lost can never be known”lamented Cockburn.
During his interview with Piers Morgan, Hassan al-Thawadi spoke about all the criticism leveled at Qatar. He said to single out the critics “constructive which would have enabled his country to dialogue and improve by discussing with partners” and criticism based on “disinformation”which would have made no progress despite “the dialogue requests we made”.