"Families of migrant workers who died in Qatar are waiting for answers," 18 Nov 2022

Human rights groups say the unexplained deaths of thousands of migrant workers during Qatar’s nearly 12 years of preparations for the World Cup have tarnished the tournament, exposing lax oversight by soccer’s international governing body, FIFA, and abusive labor conditions in the host country.

For the workers’ relatives, the deaths have left grief and debt, but also a deep and distressing uncertainty over the way they died and what, in the end, they were owed.

For years there was no system — and seemingly no will — to vigorously investigate many of the deaths, rights groups said, with the toll obscured by official certificates attributing them to natural causes, which required no follow-up under Qatari law.

Qatar has disputed the death toll, in part by insisting that work on infrastructure apart from World Cup stadiums was not related to the tournament. It has also carried out measures that labor and human rights groups say are significant and will better protect workers if they are fully implemented.

Beyond the deaths, watchdog groups said many migrant workers trying to support families back home were trapped in a punishing system that included the payment of exorbitant fees to recruiters, nonpayment of wages and appalling conditions in work camps. Many of those conditions persist.

[Refers also to Boom Construction, company did not comment for article.]