FIFA World Cup 2022: Qatari Official Says Migrant Worker Deaths Between 400 And 500

The comment by Hassan al-Thawadi, the secretary-general of Qatar바카라�s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, appeared to come off the cuff during an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan.

It also threatened to reinvigorate criticism by human rights groups over the toll of hosting the Middle East바카라�s first World Cup for the migrant labor that built over $200 billion worth of stadiums, metro lines and new infrastructure needed for the tournament.

In the interview, portions of which Morgan posted online, the British journalist asks al-Thawadi: 바카라�What is the honest, realistic total do you think of migrant workers who died from 바카라� as a result of work they바카라�re doing for the World Cup in totality?바카라�

바카라�The estimate is around 400, between 400 and 500,바카라� al-Thawadi responds. 바카라�I don바카라�t have the exact number. That바카라�s something that바카라�s been discussed.바카라�

But that figure hasn바카라�t been discussed publicly by Qatari officials previously. Reports from the Supreme Committee dating from 2014 through the end of 2021 only include the number of deaths of workers involved in building and refurbishing the stadiums now hosting the World Cup.

Those released figures put the total number of deaths at 40. They include 37 from what the Qataris describe as nonwork incidents such as heart attacks and three from workplace incidents. One report also separately lists a worker death from the coronavirus amid the pandemic.

Al-Thawadi pointed to those figures when discussing work just on stadiums in the interview, right before offering the 바카라�between 400 to 500바카라� death toll for all the infrastructure for the tournament.

In a later statement, the Supreme Committee said al-Thawadi was referring to 바카라�national statistics covering the period of 2014-2020 for all work-related fatalities (414) nationwide in Qatar, covering all sectors and nationalities.바카라�

Since FIFA awarded the tournament to Qatar in 2010, the country has taken some steps to overhaul the country바카라�s employment practices. That includes eliminating its so-called kafala employment system, which tied workers to their employers, who had say over whether they could leave their jobs or even the country.

Qatar also has adopted a minimum monthly wage of 1,000 Qatari riyals ($275) for workers and required food and housing allowances for employees not receiving those benefits directly from their employers. It also has updated its worker safety rules to prevent deaths.

바카라�One death is a death too many. Plain and simple,바카라� al-Thawadi adds in the interview.

Activists have called on Doha to do more, particularly when it comes to ensuring workers receive their salaries on time and are protected from abusive employers.

Al-Thawadi바카라�s comment also renews questions on the veracity of both government and private business reporting on worker injuries and deaths across the Gulf Arab states, whose skyscrapers have been built by laborers from South Asia nations like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

바카라�This is just the latest example of Qatar바카라�s inexcusable lack of transparency on the issues of workers바카라� deaths,바카라� said Nicholas McGeehan of Fairsquare, a London-based group which advocates for migrant workers in the Middle East. 바카라�We need proper data and thorough investigations, not vague figures announced through media interviews.

바카라�FIFA and Qatar still have a lot of questions to answer, not least where, when, and how did these men die and did their families receive compensation.바카라�

Mustafa Qadri, the executive director of Equidem Research, a labor consultancy that has published reports on the toll of the construction on migrant laborers, also said he was surprised by al-Thawadi바카라�s remark.

바카라�For him now to come and say there is hundreds, it바카라�s shocking,바카라� he told The Associated Press. 바카라�They have no idea what바카라�s going on.바카라�