This story is fairly new, but I hope that it gains traction soon. Upon reading the headline, "Migrant workers were deceived and died for Qatar's World Cup. Thousands want compensation." I was confused by what exactly it meant. I thought, "what correlation is there between migrant workers and the World Cup, and what happened that they died?" The article is telling the story of Emran Khan, of Bangladesh, and the other millions of migrants who worked to make the World Cup possible. Activists are calling for attention so that the public acknowledges the "true human toll" of the popular tournament (Hauck 2022).
Via video call, Khan tells interviewers about his experience working for the event. He remembers carrying hundreds of 20 lb concrete blocks for up to 16 hours a day in the heat. Alongside, his colleagues were fainting and vomiting, some even died. Anish Adhikari, another migrant worker from Nepal, says they faced challenged such as non-payment, deceptions, and other abuses. Although the Qatari government is admitting to dozens of migrant worker deaths while working on the World Cup projects, human rights groups say it's more like thousands.
This exploitive system of labor is nothing new. We have seen migrant workers face many challenges like these all over the world and for many years, however, that doesn't make it any less tragic. It's extremely disappointing that such a popular event that brings in so much money still cannot be bothered to take care of the workers that make the event possible. Everyone is so busy enjoying the tournament, betting on games, and rooting for their teams that these monstrosities are going to be covered up like usual. While those who lost their lives cannot be brought back, I hope we see some justice brought to the rest of the workers.
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