U.N. Urges Qatar To Investigate True Scale Of Migrant Worker Deaths

The United Nations is calling on Qatar to investigate the true scale of the deaths of migrants working on projects related to the 2022 World Cup, hours after a Qatari official admitted that several hundred people had died during the preparations.

The host nation of this year's football World Cup has been under fire for the alleged poor treatment of migrant workers building the stadiums for the games, and working on other projects related to the event.

Many of the workers have been involved in low-wage, and often dangerous labor in extreme heat.

Hassan Al-Thawadi, the secretary general of the Supreme Committee for delivery and legacy, responsible for the World Cup, told the television show Piers Morgan Uncensored on Tuesday that the number of migrant workers who have died working on such projects is "between 400 and 500."

This was a figure Qatari representatives have cited previously.

"I don't have the exact number, that's something that's been discussed. One death is too many, it's as simple as that," he said.

"I think every year the health and safety standards on the sites are improving, at least on our sites, the World Cup sites, the ones that we're responsible for, most definitely," he added.

Liz Throssell, deputy spokesperson at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) refused to comment on the numbers the Qatari official gave, but said the Gulf country should launch a formal probe into migrant deaths.

"We urge the State of Qatar to investigate deaths of migrant workers, to collect transparent and comprehensive data on the causes of these deaths, and to establish whether they were work-related," Throssell told Newsweek.

Several other sources have disputed the Qatari government's numbers.

For example, a 2021 report by rights group Amnesty International said there had been 15,021 migrant worker deaths between 2010 and 2019. However, this number also includes poorly qualified construction workers that may not have been working directly on World Cup-related projects. Amnesty said migrants account for about 90 percent of Qatar's workforce.

An analysis by The Guardian from February 2021 revealed that more than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar since it won the right to host the tournament a decade ago.

Of course, these numbers don't include figures for many other migrants working in Qatar at this time.

But, the deaths were both work-related and non-work-related, and last year, Al-Thawadi dismissed the "sensational headline" which he said lacked context.

Asked by Newsweek whether it would conduct an independent probe into the migrant deaths, a spokesperson for the Qatari Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy said: "The Secretary General told Piers Morgan's 'Uncensored' programme that there were three work-related deaths, and 37 non-work-related deaths on the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy's projects."

"This is documented on an annual basis in the SC's public reporting and covers the eight stadiums, 17 non-competition venues, and other related sites under the SC's scope.

"Separate quotes regarding figures refer to national statistics covering the period of 2014-2020 for all work-related fatalities (414) nationwide in Qatar, covering all sectors and nationalities."