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Migrant workers in Qatar: heat and overwork
Photo:
Marwan Naamani / AFP
We have 15,000 reasons to boycott this World Cup.
In August 2021, Amnesty International published a report entitled "In the prime of their life", in which they investigated the deaths of a number of migrant workers in Qatar.
Government data cited therein show that between 2010 and 2019, 15,021 non-Qataris of all ages died in the country - the causes of these deaths, however, are not adequately investigated and families are left in the dark.
We get to know six victims in the report. The truck driver Manjur Kha Pathan was 40 years old and worked between 12 and 13 hours a day. He passed out and died on the job. He had no health problems before. Sujan Miah was a pipe fitter, 32, and worked on a construction site in the desert. The temperature there was 40 degrees for the four days before his death. His colleagues found him dead in his bed. He had no health problems before. Suman Miah, Yam Bahadur Rana and Mohammad Kaochar Khan, Tul Bahadur Gharti worked hard in Qatar and all died at the age of 34. They had no health problems before either.
Amnesty International has examined 18 worker death certificates issued by Qatar between 2017 and 2021.
Fifteen of these documents did not contain any specific information about the cause of death, and the vague classifications such as "natural cause" suggest that no investigation into these cases was carried out.
David Bailey, a pathologist with the World Health Organization, told the human rights organization that the causes of death listed, such as “natural cause” and “heart failure”, do not provide an adequate explanation: “These are phrases that should not appear on a death certificate without specifying the underlying cause is explained.
Basically everyone dies of respiratory or heart failure in the end, and the phrases are meaningless without an explanation of the reason. "
In addition, the forensic medical examination is made even more difficult by the law in force in Qatar, which restricts autopsies.
In February of this year, the Guardian reported on the catastrophic working conditions.
The article revealed for the first time death rates of guest workers on construction sites after the newspaper cross-checked data from the governments of their countries of origin: »More than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died in Qatar since the country was ten years ago Was awarded the contract for the soccer world championship «.
The actual number of deaths is estimated to be even higher, as no data were collected from other countries of origin, such as the Philippines or Kenya.
According to the Guardian, 37 deaths are said to be directly attributable to the construction or renovation of eight stadiums.
And here, too, the most common cause of death mentioned was a "natural" one.
The British newspaper thinks it is "likely" that a large number of deaths are related to these major projects.
They died like slaves building pyramids
So we have a number of dead heat in an authoritarian state in connection with the preparation of the most megalomaniac and most modern sporting event in the world.
You died like slaves building pyramids - and we really want to watch the games untouched, throw confetti in national colors and post silly joyful selfies?
Even before these death numbers were published, our ability to suppress the World Cup was impressive, but no people had died then, only held captive and sold off.
The journalist Benjamin Best did research on site for WDR 2019 and interviewed a number of guest workers.
Many spoke about the harrowing conditions of this organized exploitation: unpaid wages, water and bread, mass shelters.
One of the most common problems was lack of access to papers held by employers so that workers were unable to switch projects.
Bureaucratic shackles for modern slavery.
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Human rights lawyer on the soccer World Cup in Qatar: »A boycott would be completely wrong« An interview by Anne Armbrecht
“But what,” is a somewhat glamorous consideration, “if football,” which benefits very well from this system, I just want to mention it again, “thanks to its playful, pacific competitive character, brings exactly the improvement that we need only found out that we wanted to hold a game there at all? "
To me that sounds like nervous self-affirmation in order not to have to admit one's own business-driven opportunism. Fifa argues that it can bring about positive social change, "the whole world is now looking at Qatar!" As of now, this argumentatively claimed liberalization has failed. And at this point we haven't even spoken of other human rights violations, such as the ongoing discrimination against women and queer people, the restrictions on freedom of the press, and the astronomical environmental damage that the World Cup in Qatar will cause.The positive developments are based on a negligibly small number of well-meaning projects and do not go beyond sportwashing (and since Qatar also claims a climate-neutral World Cup, greenwashing). And maybe it is not the job of a bizarre football game, or, if we look at it more honestly, a for-profit mass event to bring about social change. But international professional sport has long been more than just money and social moment, also viewed historically. It is of course also political. And thus also corruptible and corrupted.a for-profit mass event to bring about social change. But international professional sport has long been more than just money and social moment, also viewed historically. It is of course also political. And thus also corruptible and corrupted.a for-profit mass event to bring about social change. But international professional sport has long been more than just money and social moment, also viewed historically. It is of course also political. And thus also corruptible and corrupted.
So before one thinks that one could improve the human rights situation in Qatar with the help of a sport that is broken in its current form, we should see whether this test of values in Qatar could not also improve the broken sport.
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Fans criticize FC Bayern's Qatar connection: ducking away, keeping quiet, talking nicely by Matthias Fiedler and Florian Kinast
A kat (h) artic step would be a boycott.
I know that asking in Germany that a World Cup should be canceled is like trying to steal Christmas.
But the forms are varied.
Denmark's national team, for example, will not engage in commercial activities in Qatar and will remove sponsors from their training jerseys during their stay and instead use human rights proclamations.
At first glance, this looks a bit pious and t-shirt activism-like, but it sabotages exactly one part of every sporting spectacle that is essential for investors and has a high level of visibility: the players are no longer an advertising body, but a warning that has become a team.
The Swedish Association has also canceled its planned tour to Doha.
And the fans are also protesting against sport washing, which is supposed to make professional human contempt ethically clean with a washing powder made from federal youth game romance and "sport as a kit".
One cannot simply sport the economization of human life
As an example, with an indirect reference to the World Cup in Qatar, the FC Bayern fans should be mentioned, who have been protesting loudly against their own club for a long time. The club, which is usually clear in socio-political debates, has signed contracts with Qatar Airways, which caused enormous criticism, but at the same time brought to light the whole bogus nature of the sports economy: Qatar itself is partly involved in Volkswagen, which in turn includes Audi. And that is the sponsor of the Munich soccer club. The clubs also have their bureaucratic shackles. During the game against Freiburg, fans held up a huge banner on which Oliver Kahn and FC Bayern President Herbert Hainer were sorting blood-stained white laundry, while a suitcase with money was waiting for them on the washing machine. The heading:"We wash everything clean for money."
If you really love football, you don't look at this mendacious pseudo-international understanding event that will symbolically take place on a grave.
One cannot simply sport the destructive economicization of human life, and institutions that allow this through participation or uncritical acceptance support a system of crushing people.
We cannot take part in the PR of an autocracy, waving black, red and gold flags, which lets people die miserably while setting up precisely this PR campaign.
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Qatar a year before the World Cup: "The situation has barely improved" By Monika Bolliger
And yes, I actually think that the media, yes, including SPIEGEL, shouldn't report great on the games.
Or if so, always with the following last sentence: “It was an exciting game, the French back in top form.
Germany still wins narrowly, but deserves 1-0 against France.
Twelve people were killed for this game. "