Qatar’s government has issued a public rebuttal against claims that thousands of workers have died and would continue to be killed while building World Cup sites, a charge that was widely circulated on social media last week.
Such allegations are “completely untrue” and have caused “enormous damage” to Qatar’s image and reputation, the Government Communications Office said in a statement last night on QNA – six days after a story about the deaths was published on the Washington Post’s website.
In its article, “The human toll of FIFA’s corruption,” the Post asserted that some 1,200 construction workers in Qatar have died since 2010.
It also predicted that the number could reach 4,000 deaths by 2022, citing the International Trade Union Confederation’s hypothesis as one of the sources for these figures.
Accompanying the article was an infographic that claimed to compare the number of deaths of workers in Qatar to those in other countries that have recently hosted the World Cup.
The illustration showed that Qatar had many times more deaths than any other country.
While the article itself pointed out that Qatar’s figures are estimates for all expat deaths here since 2010, regardless of the cause of death, this caveat was not mentioned in the infographic, which quickly went viral and was picked up by news organizations globally.
‘No deaths’
In its statement, Qatar’s government office said such allegations were “completely untrue.”
“In fact, after almost five million work-hours on World Cup construction sites, not a single worker’s life has been lost. Not one,” it said.
It claimed that the Washington Post reached its figure by using data on annual mortality rates for Indian and Nepali nationals living in Qatar and multiplied this by the number of years until the World Cup, without accounting for deaths that did not occur on construction sites.
“It is unfortunate that any worker should die overseas, but it is wrong to distort statistics to suggest, as the Post’s article did, that all deaths in such a large population are the result of workplace conditions,” the statement continued.
The Washington Post was contacted by Qatar authorities after its article appeared on May 27, and asked for a retraction and correction.
However as the story was online and not in the printed newspaper, this appeal was rejected, the statement adds.
“As a result of the Post’s online article, readers around the world have now been led to believe that thousands of migrant workers in Qatar have perished, or will perish, building the facilities for World Cup 2022 – a claim that has absolutely no basis in fact.”
Part of the confusion in reporting may stem from the fact that Qatar’s population is comprised mainly of expats – nearly 90 percent.
And though no migrants have died during construction of the five of the eight stadiums that have been announced as future World Cup venues here, this may not be the case for other projects.
Rights groups argue that the upcoming Doha Metro, multiple road projects and Lusail City may not be directly considered World Cup sites, but are related to Qatar’s hosting of the global event, and thus the welfare of workers on these projects should also be under scrutiny.
However, some officials deny there is a problem with worker treatment here. This week, a senior Supreme Council of Health official said that a new strategy aimed at improving conditions for laborers is now in the works.
In a public address, SCH’s director of public health Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani added that most of the deaths among laborers in Qatar were the result of heart attacks that occurred outside the workplace.
The majority of foreign workers are from areas of high altitude which lacks oxygen and so they could be more susceptible to heart attacks, he said, as reported by QNA.
End kafala
Qatar has come under enormous pressure from human rights groups and media internationally to reform its kafala sponsorship system, which prevents a worker from leaving the country or switching employers without their sponsor’s permission.
Although authorities announced last May that they would reform the system, no firm timeline has been set for when any changes will come into effect.
Earlier this week, Nepal added its voice to the chorus of demands for change:
“From the human rights point of view of the workers, I think the kafala system should be abolished … workers should be allowed to return or change their jobs if they want to,” Labor Minister Tek Bahadur Gurung reportedly told Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Gurung was quoted by The Guardian last month as saying that his country’s embassy in Qatar has been “inundated” with requests for help from expats who wanted to return home after the earthquake last month, but were denied exit by their employers.
However, a week after the comments were published, Gurung’s ministry backtracked, saying: “The content of the news report does not reflect the spirit of the Minister of State, who had just appealed, in a good faith, all employers of Qatar to facilitate the return of the Nepali workers to join their family members in the country who have been victims of the recent earthquake.”
In addition to human rights concerns, Qatar has had to fend off corruption allegations related to the World Cup.
In fact, the country’s response to the Washington Post report came just hours before FIFA President Sepp Blatter abruptly submitted his resignation last night.
The football chief’s imminent exit has raised questions about the fate of Qatar’s right to host the 2022 tournament, as investigations into the awarding of the bids continues.
Thoughts?
Weak and unconvincing, a more accurate title might have been ‘Qatar Authorities Attempt to Debunk Media Reports About World Cup Death’.
Totally agree the title should include the word “attempt.” Did Qatar’s officials provide any statistics to disprove? Until they do it’s just throwing words.
Funny how they claim others have no proof and it’s just hearsay and they turn around and do just what they accused the other of doing. With less “facts”.
Just like the ex-PM. Throw out some vague accusations of ‘racism’ and hope that that will ‘debunk’ the truth.
Debunk means “expose the falseness or hollowness of (an idea or belief)” or “show that something (such as a belief or theory) is not true”. So DN’s headline states it as a fact. Rather use the word ‘deny’ – that would be the professional thing to do. And why the plural ‘reports’ – I thought the rebuttal/denial only referred to the Washington Post’s article?
It is a fact that the 1,200 deaths since 2010 were not all World Cup project-related. “Reports” refers to not just the Post, but the multiple news organizations that picked up the story and carried it forward.
This helps explain local journalists’ frustration with the report: http://www.migrant-rights.org/2015/05/careless-media-reporting-on-qatar-leaves-migrant-workers-more-vulnerable/
But essentially it IS one report. Because I regurgitate it doesn’t make it a second report.
Then what is the number of project-related deaths? Zero??? Or we get into a lengthy debate as to what is “project” and what is “death”.
I think the most appropriate response is:
I bet that picture originally came from the website of some white supremacist group. It’s not funny when you consider the challenges people of colour actually face as a consequence of racism. If you emailed that picture to colleagues in many an office, it would earn you a sanction of some sort.
Better?
Any sensible person will tell you that the two pictures have different impacts (different histories and experiences for the peoples represented in the photos) and the second one certainly does not make it “better.”
By the way, it says much that your first instinct was to reach for a picture with a Black child in response to a story to do with Qatar. Is there a particular reason why you did not use one of somebody who looks like a majority of Persian Gulf citizens? By the way, that too would be wrong.
“The challenges people of colour actually face”?
Tell me, who are these people that don’t have a color and thus don’t face challenges because of it? I do however see what you are implying, and I strongly disagree. If you think life seems tough as a non-white in “white man’s land”, please try travelling through e.g. Africa with a white person and see how the white person is treated. That should redefine the term “racism” for you. Please, drop the victim act, we’re all victims of some sort.
Says more about you that you assume I am Black!!! And White people in Africa; higher rates of poverty, more of their men in jail than in college, arrests for DWB etc. yeah right…
I don’t assume that you’re black, your assumption is wrong. 🙂 What I DO assume though, is that you are not white and thus don’t know how much racism whites are actually also facing. Racism isn’t just about rates of poverty, jail vs college ratios etc., it is also how people are treated on a day-to-day basis by people around them. I would choose to be black in Texas any day over being white in any African country. I’m sure that prejudice isn’t all fair since I haven’t been in all African countries, but I’ve lived in the heart of Africa for a decade and I have many friends from all over Africa, and the general sentiment is increased hostility toward whites. If that’s not racism, I don’t know what is.
Racism is obviously too complex an issue for some to understand.
Obviously. Racism can apparently only be committed by white people. The irony here is just wonderful.
Irony: “Knowitall” has more to learn than s/he thinks.
Betting might be illegal here. I don’t recommend it – especially because you’d lose. The image/gif/meme comes from a TV show on MTV2, not the Ku Klux Klan. [deep sigh]
Borrowed and used mindlessly for a different context…
crocodile Dundee an Australian movie
so the problem is “altitude” not “attitude” towards workers! (－‸ლ)
That caught my eye too. So they’re having heart attacks in Doha because there’s too much oxygen in the air? Anyone with a medical background care to weigh in on that one? You sure it’s not due to being underfed and overworked in the heat?
It’s the reverse–low altitude moving to high altitudes. However, in the history of humanity the shift from high to low may have harmed someone. Moreover, such risk periods are for short lengths of time (i.e. when you are climbing a mountain), and the body over time adjusts.
Heat would most likely be the greatest factor.
That’s what I had understood, but who am I to question anything that the SCH says?
At higher altitudes the blood becomes ‘thicker’ to take on as much oxygen as possible in the higher altitudes, where there is less in the atmosphere. The downside is that the heart has to work harder to push the ‘thicker’ blood through the body. Dehydration adds to that, making the blood ‘thicker’ still. This extra work for the heart increases chances of heart failure.
Athletes don’t suffer this as they are only at the high altitudes temporarily so their bodies quickly adapt back to ‘normal’.
Not to mention all the dust and other particles in the air must be wrecking havoc with the respiratory system of people used to clean mountain air.
I just dont understand this “more susceptible to heart attacks” thing. People born and raised in high altitude will have a better respiratory and circulation system compared with a person born else where. So they should be less susceptible to heart attacks when they are living here in Qatar.
Remember it’s the Supreme Council of Health we’re dealing with. Anytime somebody has to inform you they’re “supreme”…… they probably aren’t.
Super supreme pizza is pretty supreme in my books.
Touché
But did it have to tell you it was Supreme, or did you understand that it was Supreme because of its innate Supremeness? This is the eternal question.
My pizza announces it is supreme, so that I don’t mistake it for that pepperoni and cheese crap that some prefer to the god of all pizzas.
Ah, it ‘announces’ it. Presumably with a trumpet fanfare and a herald listing all of its pizzaly accomplishments for generations back?
Eating it tastes great, yet immediate regret sets in the moment it has been consumed…
Deleting this thread for getting off topic – though thanks guys, now I want pizza!
Supreme or super supreme? 😉
Why are you censoring? What about free speach! Hypocrite.
Exactly why people go to high altitudes to train as I understand it, but then I’m no physician.
They come from an extremely impoverished country with abysmall healthcare. They’re far more suspetible to many conditions. If you grow up poor and with a lack of food/nutrition then your body takes a toll. Besides contrarily I can say them doing manual labour is good for their hearts because it’s excercise but you know you’re reaching for straws. Also, just because they’re from Nepal doesn’t mean they’re from some mountain villiage.
You’re stupid and I don’t like you.
Except that they have to pass medical check ups to be admitted to Qatar
So? Do they do EKGs? I’m pretty sure they do a very basic run down and check for infections diseases. They don’t go around having them go through extensive health checks. It’s far too expensive, far too time consuming. No country does this to manual laborers.
Are you mentally challenged?
‘ youre stupid and i don’t like you ”
” Are you mentally challenged ”
Me thinks Abdul, you might want to learn a little bit about public relations, abusing people and calling them stupid simply because they make valid medical points is not a very good way to handle government relations..and perhaps you should also state if you have a vested financial interest in working for Qatar’s FIFA bid.
And i should point out you made an error with one of your posts..you wrote “they come from” when you meant to write “they come to an extremely impoverished country with abysmal healthcare”
Qatar does have some great medical facilities, if you can access them either physically or financially.. Most of these construction workers earn roughly 1000 qar a month, that makes them impoverished. I’m not sure about your vast knowledge of global business trends but slavery isnt one of them, and the kafala system is nothing short of slavery.
This is a country that does not allow independent investigations of the Stadiums or working conditions, does not publish figures on workplace accidents and arrests journalists who attempt to expose the working conditions.
I might suggest a good way to increase public support for Qatar’s world cup would be to stop paying lip service to the ongoing promise that one day maybe reforms will happen and instigate them and perhaps, just perhaps treat the people constructing and building the stadiums and facilities in Qatar as..gee, i don’t know..human beings?
Er, skippy, are you sure you’ve got the right Abdulrahman Al Thani? There’s plenty out there……..!
really? same first names, same family names?..next you’ll tell me that they share the same names because they marry into their own families..and no one who inter married would dare suggest anyone else is stupid or mentally challenged : )
I take your point though and have edited accordingly..
they wished they made QR 1000 / mo. More like QR 500.
Banning for only leaving comments that inflame/troll.
Nepal THE COUNTRY is at a higher altitude from sea level. The ”mountain villages” you are referring to sometimes require a trek for days up the mountains to actually get to them,this is the Himalayas we are talking about FYI not some little sand dune in mesaieed & they do it with their two feet NOT sitting comfortably in a 5.7 litre V8 4×4 with balloon tyres. They eat fresh food grown in their fields NOT the packaged crap you & me have grown up eating off the supermarket shelves. I can assure you,their cardiovascular systems are in FAR better condition than yours or mine is.
Should’ve just stuck to your last sentence,which is all you wanted to really say anyways.
I understand your need to protect your country over all else but sometimes the wisest way to do that is to say nothing.
Listen you dillusional housewife go suck on an organic carrot if you’re not bothered to look up some real world stuff.
This is Nepal. It has food shortage problems. It is extremely impoverished. Not some happy little farming village full of fit young people.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2014/09/pictures-food-crisis-hits-nepal–20149492828515895.html
Troll. Sheikhs are much more intelligent than you.
Some might argue that point of view is merely a reflection of your lack of knowledge on this country & it’s native population but hey,what do I know? 🙂
You don’t know anything, you’re a generalizing bigot.
Okay, very good. I give you jawaz.
Right,because al jazeera is the beacon of unbiased reporting. you’re funny 🙂 I don’t “look up” son,I go & see for myself for real,on which I base my opinion. Something you quite clearly have no clue about. Nonetheless,your beloved QR flies to Kathmandu direct,may I humbly suggest a short trip? I’m pretty sure you have no other pressing engagements in the interim? The Syrian crisis,mediating in Yemen,Iran’s oil output,etc?
Al-Jazeera English is the most credible news source around the world, it is equal to BBC World if not better. Are you seriosuly this ignorant? I don’t care what you base your opinion on, it has less worth than fetilizer. I don’t wnat to go Nepal. It’s poor, dirty and just had a massive earthquake. I have better places to go to.
Um, middle east drama is as common as your mom banging the neighberhood. It isn’t going to stop me.
Not the sharpest tool in the shed are you son?
Look, I don’t know how many illegitmate children fell out of your hooch but I can assure you, I’m not one of them so don’t call me ‘son’.
In my country it is obligatory for a new employee to undergo medical check-up. Such check-ups vary depending on the type of the trade and role of particular employee. It does not prevent all untimely deaths and but limits risk. GDP per capita in my country is about 1/4 of that of Qatar.
Good for your country. GDP per capita is inflated for Doha because the small size of the local population..k bye
Deleting for attack.
You are absolutely correct. Athletes of many disciplines train at high altitude to improve their performance.
The Nepalis are at an advantage, not a disadvantage. Strange this physiological fact is contradicted?
As a medical student, I can tell you this “more susceptible to heart attacks” argument is complete BS, medically speaking. The only reason young otherwise healthy males in their 20s should be dying of heart attacks is that they’ve been working for hours in the Doha summer.
Then sue them!
I’ll have a glass of what you’re on!
But of course….
“Get your facts first, then distort them how you please.”
–Mark Twain
So if a significant number of healthy young men work all day in the summer heat and die in their beds of heart attacks, is that OK? Would SCH’s position be the same if young Qatari nationals were dying at the same rate?
Right Qatar… Keep telling yourself that.
“Gurung was quoted by The Guardian last month as saying that his country’s embassy in Qatar has been “inundated” with requests for help from expats who wanted to return home after the earthquake last month, but were denied exit by their employers.”
I tried to be sympathetic towards my Nepalese staff, offering them the pick of dates to go home, but most of them preferred to stay to get more money to take home.
Surely there must be more than 4,000 people dying here each year? Wouldn’t that be one Friday night on the roads?
Nearly!
The number of dead and dying is not really the point. In the end if you don’t have the inalienable right to leave a job or the country the system is one of slavery. That may be what ultimately removes the World Cup from Qatar regardless of what number of people die or not.
End of Kafala system is for lot of EU and American citizzens are held up here not for poor Asians who come here from kubboos and dal and survival/
Yeah, wish I understood this.
As a European, I would enjoy the distinct possibility of ‘end of kafala’.
Then I woke up.
Authorities need to check the salaries mentioned in the actual contracts signed in their home countries, then u understand the logic, are they crying or making noises or who is making noise
The UK has also a sponsorship system. Companies cannot hire expats unless they fall within certain categories. Hired expats have to spend the first year with the same employer before being allowed to change jobs. The Qatari system is partly inspired by the British one, but is just more strict with the travel restrictions and other permissions requiring sponsor’s approval. It is just a matter of the pot calling the kettle black at the end of the day
You’d better tell them that, I changed jobs twice for a total of 3 different employers within my first 9 months when I worked on those isles.
I was not allowed to change my student visa into a work one. The company that wanted to hire me could not sponsor me. The immigration guy showed me all the rules for that and one of them was that I had to stay with the same employer for a year.
Of course you couldn’t change a student visa to a work visa, that is pretty common everywhere. If you were only a student I’d be surprised that anyone would even consider hiring you. Usually students are restricted to part-time work on campus or school-related occupations in the immediate locale of the school. Your main purpose was to study, not to work, wasn’t it?
I finished my studies, got my degree, started applying for jobs. bla bla bla…
Ah, that explains much. You were no longer a student, were looking to change the status of your stay in the country, etc? Yep, that is hassle everywhere. I was in a different category in that I travelled there on my own as a lark (following a Brit woman, but that is a different story), and have a profession in which there is a shortage in the UK, yada, yada. Visa was dead easy as was finding and changing jobs. Just had to nip over to France and re-enter as a non-tourist.
When I left the UK in 2011 The Conservatives were elected and were promising to change the system (and put more restrictions on non-EU workers). I don’t know how far they went with their plans but I assume things are a bit different now.
Sour grapes. Perhaps the prospective employers didn’t like your attitude.
Nope. I started working with them but was stuck in the paperwork 2 months later so I had to go.
Here you can even convert a visit visa not a study one if you find a job
This is all off topic, but there’s no part of the world has quite the money making machine regarding visas that the GCC does. At least, not that ?I’ve encountered.
It was to comment on the part of the article where it says Qatar came under pressure for its Kafala system. It was a reminder that this exists in so-called free countries. I am not inferring that the situation is as terrible in the UK, but abuses exist everywhere. The difference is that in the UK there is a functional justice system and well-established professional practices.
Hasn’t been my experience. We always send people out of the country to wait for a few days while we apply for a work visa for them.
Yes, but here people are not falling over themselves trying to get into the country.In the UK they are.
Students hours are restricted yes, I can’t remember the exact number of hours but I had visits in the past from immigration (i think) who questioned how many hours staff on student visas worked
Well that is not true, I never had a checklist of who I could hire when I recruited non UK citizens. They can also change jobs as much as they like to, and they do!
So who is this meant for?
https://www.gov.uk/uk-visa-sponsorship-employers
Your arguments are all over the place!
The link you posted is for EMPLOYERS getting a licence to sponsor foreign employees application for work visa
LOL
But as with your other posts when someone points out your wrong, you respond with a completely unrelated point instead of countering their argument!
Perhaps Yacine is referring to a Tier 2 (General) visa which is for the employment of non EEA nationals?
However that particular visa doesn’t prevent employees from changing jobs within the first year. The only restriction is that if you wish to change jobs to a new industry sector, you need to submit a new application.
The visa allows you to take a second job, change jobs as much as you want within the same industry sector with no additional paperwork, study, travel abroad, bring family members with you. It does not allow you to access public funds or own more than 10% of the sponsor’s shares.
The UK sponsors do not confiscate passports. The employee doesn’t need an Exit Permit to leave the UK.
In university in the U.S. I was not allowed to leave the country unless the dean of international student signed my student visa documents allowing me to leave and ensuring all dues to the university were paid …
Might want to confirm that. Nothing to stop you getting on a plane and leaving anytime you wanted, those documents, a university doesn’t ‘allow’ you to leave. They might not agree to process your visa to come back though. I ask I to was a student at a US university and know the documents of which you speak, and I believe you may have misunderstood them.
I said that in my comment. It is way harsher here, but it is the same concept.
Sure they do, not all, and not legally, like here; they also have a thriving industry supported by illegal workers both in the UK and US which is riddled with this kind of thing
Generally organised by other ‘illegal’ immigrants.
But I say again, there is recourse through the law, a fait acompli (my French is 30 years neglected) on behalf of locals here.
Try acting in UK, by saying ‘ this idiot annoys me, just jail him’!
There may be very stringent conditions for getting any kind of visa to enter EU and US countries but one can always leave at will. Changing just that one aspect of Qatari labour law would be a huge step in the right direction for this country.
“The majority of foreign workers are from areas of high altitude which lacks oxygen and so they could be more susceptible to heart attacks” Maybe someone with a medical knowledge on the subject could give us an independent opinion on this?
A respected publication like the post should have been smarter … This now boarders a smear campaign .. They basically looked at the total death rate from 2010 till date !!
I’m sure many of the death are directly work related regardless if they were building a school or a stadium … But to blindly publish a number like that is wrong..
How many were from car accidents due to poor driving? Cancer ? Old age.. Actually falling down from a building.. Were they all Indians or Nepalese or others too…
Just pulling a number of expat deaths distorts the story and takes away from the real story of overall workers work conditions and treatment
Absolutely agree, this was a flawed report from a biased organisation. Lazy journalism delivers a sensationalist headline, that’s catnip for the masses.
according to the chart presented numerous death toll…. And I presume more to come. Since tQatar didn’t care at all…
I think the real crime here are the over-saturated photos.
This:
‘Rights groups argue that the upcoming Doha Metro, multiple road projects and Lusail City may not be directly considered World Cup sites, but are related to Qatar’s hosting of the global event, and thus the welfare of workers on these projects should also be under scrutiny.’
You cannot separate the construction work needed to meet the requirements for the bid from ‘World Cup Sites’ i.e. stadia
Over 1 million workers. So, five million work hours means that for a duration of (Five hours), on any given day; say Monday morning to noon; no one has died 🙂
What a weak argument to try and contradict reality.
“In fact, after almost five million work-hours on World Cup construction sites, not a single worker’s life has been lost. Not one,” it said.
Ok, I think someone failed their high school math exam in here 🙂 – Five million work-hours divided by 1 million workers = Five work-hours per worker. Hmmm, now for heaven’s sake, how is five hours per employee without them dying any viable of a counter argument?
It is amazing how this is even considered an argument of any virtue!
You’re stupid. They’re only talking about WC related projects. According to Nasser Al-Khater, only 3800 workers are currently working on WC projects.
Editing to take out the attack, leaving the argument though.
It’s very, very simple, not everyone in the country is working on WC projects.
Safety of workers should include all workers.
The ITU report which the latest media articles are based on is grossly biased to the point of being flawed. The ITU report scooped up all expat deaths, irrespective of cause. The average death rate of an Indian sub-continent male age 25-29 was 2.1 per year, per 1000 people in their home country during 2011 (source Indian Government and UN). There are 1.4million workers from the Indian sub-continent in Qatar. Therefore you would expect 2,940 males to die in the average year of all causes.
The infographic shows one worker died during the London 2012 construction, however, by applying the same criteria as the ITU used for Qatar, we would need to add in the deaths of all foreigners, from any cause, working anywhere in the UK.
Any accident related death is sad and all should be done to prevent them, but I’m not for blatantly twisting the facts to beat Qatar.
Create an independent regulatory non-governmental body for Health and Safety Professionals. Hire them from all over the world and ensure locals are involved and grant them the ability to stop any unsafe acts. Cut ribbons, big offices, the works. Find some random “Al something” trading and contracting company with workers hanging on the side of the building, document it, video tape it and release it to the press with a statement: “We believe that progress can be achieved only by ensuring all measures are taken to protect and preserve life. As such, we are opening this independent body (QHSE-something like that) as a commitment to our policy. We would like to ask all residents to work with us in achieving a safer place for all and contact us so that we may work with the contractors and come up with corrective actions and ensure their adherence to Law.”
Slide the image over and show the image of some MD of the aforementioned “Al Something”, preferably Indian, Palestinian or Egyptian glazing in the camera with a look of “I didn’t know anyone cared”. Immediately after, contact the Qatari sponsor and have him give a statement as follows: “This regretful event (work stoppage and fine) has made me realize that I cannot depend on the decisions of my partner to protect my interests and those of our workers and country and that in order to avoid future mishaps I must be directly involved in the day-to-day activities. I thank QHSE for helping us realize our mistakes and working with us to ensure life and construction sector develop and flourish together.”
Also show some footage of green helmet safety people not stopping/witnessing unsafe acts (preferably Caucasians) and a line underneath saying: “We value life and are here to help”.
Pretty brutal response from the Indy..
http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/qatar-has-released-a-ridiculous-statement-on-world-cup-deaths–bJHz7rFTxx
London, Sochi, Beining & Vancouver are not “other World Cups” lazy journalism.