Football World Cup 2022: 500 Telengana, Andhra Pradesh men died to build Qatar stadium

Hyderabad: The construction of infrastructure for the Football World Cup 2022, in Qatar, that began in 2012 has left more than 500 Indian workers dead. A large number of them belong to Telangana and Seemandhra states.

Official figures confirmed by the Indian embassy in Doha reveal that 237 Indians working in Qatar died in 2012, 241 in 2013, and 24 in January 2014, said Mr Babu Mather, senior journalist who worked for a media house in Qatar, He was quoting figures from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

The Qatar government has repeatedly denied damaging reports by the western media about the large-scale human rights violations and has charged that it is a deliberate attempt to snatch the World Cup away from Doha, Qatar’s capital.

“The construction of the World Cup stadium in Qatar is being done on a war footing. Around 1.2 million migrant workers were hired of which the major chunk belong to India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sudan, Philippines, and Somalia. Migrants are put to work on billions of dollars worth of projects like highways, roads, metro rail, hotels, and hospitals, much needed during the World Cup,” said Mr Mather, addressing a workshop held in the city on Saturday.

He said most of the Indian migrants reported to have died are from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Naidu, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. However, the Indian embassy in Doha has not revealed details like cause of death or where they worked.

ITUC has warned that up to 4,000 workers may die owing to lack of security, unhygienic living conditions, harsh weather (the mercury can rise to 50 degrees C), before a ball is kicked in 2022, unless there is meaningful reform of the “kafala” system, which ties workers to their employers.

Stringent control of the myriad construction companies and sub-contractors involved in the building of infrastructure is also required.