Qatar: Difficult working conditions for foreign workers in 2022 World Cup projects
The Sunday Times reports on the return of Nepalese workers who worked at the World Cup facilities in 2022 from Qatar.
The report, entitled: “Death for the Qatar 2022 World Cup”, the story of worker Amit Magar, who returned to his country due to his deteriorating health condition, suffering from kidney failure, which doctors in Nepal observed when returning from Qatar, where he works in the coming World Cup stadiums, the BBC reported.
“At a hospital in Kathmandu, Maghar attends three dialysis sessions a week and is at high risk of heart attack or stroke, doctors say, and his life can last between five and 10 years”.
The young Nepali had been promised approximately $300 a month in salary and a decent living, in exchange for working as a carpenter at Al-Thamama Stadium, one of eight stadiums built to host the World Cup next year.
According to the source, the Nepali worker described working in Qatar as “torture”, as he was forced to work in open spaces throughout the day in temperatures that may exceed 45 degrees. He said: It was so hot that workers poured water into their shoes so their feet wouldn’t burn.
Dr. Pratik Singh, a resident physician at the Institute of Medicine in Kathmandu, says: “Most migrant workers worked 12-15 hours a day, without drinking enough water, about one or two liters a day, and in these extreme conditions, I think that was the main cause of the disease”.
An investigation published by the British newspaper Mail on Sunday said that Qatar will send migrant workers who participated in the construction of World Cup facilities back to their home countries ahead of the World Cup, and place them on five months unpaid leave.
He added that dozens of construction workers were told to leave next August, which led many to worry about how to pay the “loans” they took so they could work abroad.
The Supreme Committee, which coordinates preparations for the World Cup in Qatar, said: It “has not overseen any decisions on workers’ departure”.
Qatar will host the first World Cup in the Middle East between November 21st and December 18th, 2022.
Organizers of the 2022 Qatar World Cup hope that 1.2 million visitors will arrive in the small Gulf state, hosted in its hotel chain and through other “innovative and temporary” solutions.
Five stadiums have been inaugurated so far, and “the readiness of the 6th has been completed, and it will be inaugurated with the opening ceremony of the Arab Cup.” The remaining stadiums are Ras Abu Abboud and Lusail, which will host the World Cup final with 85,000 spectators.
