2nd December, 2010, QATAR is granted the right to host the 2022 FIFA world cup. During the summers, when temperature in QATAR hits 130 degree Fahrenheit, 32 teams will fight it out for the CUP, the grandest of trophy’s they can have, inside air-conditioned stadiums which can hold 50000 people. With the Qatar FIFA world cup committee promising to spend at least $200 Billion, it will be the grandest of the world cups ever hosted. Constructions of sprawling line of high rises are already completed, and more so are on the line. The country with the highest per capita income in the world is providing even further employment opportunities, and a chance to those from low income countries to make a living. This my friends, is ‘THE UGLY TRUTH’.
A country with a population of 1 million, providing
employment opportunity to another million from around the world, with the
highest payment they can ever receive if doing the same work in their own
countries; this sounds very generous when heard. But is this all? Is there no
hidden motive behind it? Yes there is. This is just the front end of the bigger
picture.
A country with no footballing history whatsoever needs to
build a spree of football stadiums. It has the money to buy all the resources
needed. But where does it get the manpower for it from? It goes around
appointing agents who will get commission based on the number of people that
they can bring in. What do these agents do? They go for the south Asian
countries, with huge population, but few employment opportunities. They target
those who are in dire need of money, and bring them to Qatar with a promise of
huge sums. Is it this simple?
The answer is NO. Generally, the people who are targeted for these opportunities are those who don’t have passports, and the means of making one. They are given fake documents to reach the host country. These guys are also made to sign a contract which states they can’t leave the country until they complete the stipulated time mentioned. What happens next is quiet heartbreaking. On reaching the host country, their passports are taken by the authorities, and in most cases, their contracts torn apart in front of their eyes. In most cases, they are paid 1/10th of what they were promised. Also, since these people had entered the country on falsified documents, they can’t approach their embassies. And the few who do have a valid passport can’t leave because they had taken huge loans for making this lucrative trip, and now have no means of repaying it.
To add to their woes, they are made to live in inhuman
conditions. 10-12 people stay in a room of 20 by 20. The rats in the kitchens
are least the worrisome creatures for these laborers. There is no clean water
to drink and no air conditions to sleep in the scorching heat of QATAR. Furthermore,
the working conditions are worse than what I have mentioned. Almost no safety
precautions are taken place as the number of people searching for these jobs is
numerous, and so the QATAR authorities feel no compulsion to provide proper
sanitation and safety equipment’s to these laborers. To add salt to the wounds,
even if some close family member of a laborer dies, he/she is not allowed to
leave the country because of the contract they had signed.
To sum up, laborers from countries like India, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka are made to live 50-60 km’s from the main city (The rich
country which QATAR is doesn’t want to be associated with the poor who have
come to build the cities for them ). They are treated worse than dogs are
treated. Their living and working conditions are inhuman and equally dangerous.
But this is not the end. Every day at least 7 workers die working in the
scorching heat of QATAR. Further 5 die because of living in unsanitary
conditions. It’s a common sight in Kathmandu and Kochi airport with bodies
arriving in coffins.
This my friends, is ‘THE UGLY TRUTH’; the truth behind QATAR
hosting a world cup.
Some suggestion:
- · If you know someone who is going to QATAR, please make sure he has all the necessary documents. Read the contract carefully and make sure he doesn’t give up his passport in any case.
- · Don’t hesitate to contact your own authorities if something like this arises. They may help you in some way or the other.
- · Indian government should make sure that such inhuman things don’t happen to its citizens. Clauses should be put in place before any country can hire people for nursing/labor.
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