Construction workers at work on a street in Qatar
Photo: Str / dpa
In the World Cup host country Qatar, 50 migrant workers are said to have died last year.
This emerges from a report by the International Labor Organization of the United Nations (ILO), which was published around a year before the start of the soccer World Cup, which will take place from November 21 to December 18, 2022.
The main cause of the deaths were therefore falls.
According to the ILO, 506 serious injuries were also registered.
37,600 people suffered mild to moderate injuries.
Most of the workers affected were from Bangladesh, India and Nepal.
The main causes of serious injuries were falls in the workplace, followed by road accidents and falling objects on construction sites.
Gaps in data collection
The results of the investigation are based on data collected by medical institutions providing acute care to injured workers in the country.
The report also found gaps in data collection.
It was "still not possible to give an exact number of fatal accidents at work in the country," it said.
Amnesty International recently criticized Qatar again for the working conditions of construction workers and the lack of implementation of reforms.
Human rights organizations have long called for the deaths to be clarified.
More than two million migrant workers work in Qatar, many of whom are directly or indirectly involved in the extensive infrastructure projects for the World Cup.
The Qatari government welcomed the ILO publication.
Qatar will "continue to work with the ILO to ensure that labor reforms are effectively implemented and that Qatar continuously improves labor practices and increases safety for all workers," it said.
mfh / sid