Kin told to pay Rs 5 lakh to receive mortal remains of worker who died during Qatar World Cup project: Report

'IE' investigation sought to track down bereaved kin of migrant workers from India who died in Qatar while building stadiums and infrastructure for the tournament

The families of migrant workers who died during the construction of Qatar's stadiums for the 2022 World Cup lamented zero compensation payouts amidst several other grievances, according to an investigation led by The Indian Express.

In one instance, the bereaved family of one deceased migrant worker was asked to pay Rs 5 lakh for the repatriation of his body to India, the IE investigation report said. The investigation, carried out over eight months, sought to track down the bereaved kin of the migrant workers from India - the sole breadwinners of their families - who died in Qatar while building stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup.

The deaths included that of Rajendra Prabhu Mandaloji, 40, who died by suicide in September 2019. Before he left for Qatar, Mandaloji was promised a monthly salary of 2,500 Qatari riyals, (approximately Rs 57,000). When he arrived in Doha in 2016, however, a new contract noting a different salary was presented to him. He was expected to perform the same work for 1,000 Qatari riyals (approximately Rs 23,000). This was a setback for Mandaloji, his wife Sucharita told the newspaper. "He was very upset but there was no other option since he did not have any job opportunities here," she said. "He kept blaming fate and promised he would return immediately once all the debts were cleared."

The difficult working conditions, poor wages and financial pressure "disturbed him mentally", his wife said. "After he died, his employers asked us to pay Rs 5 lakh to send his body home," said Suchita and added that the Indian embassy eventually intervened and sorted out the issue. Mandaloji's body was brought to Telangana after 10 days along with his wages amounting to Rs 30,000.

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In 2021, The Guardian, quoting government sources, reported that more than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar since FIFA had awarded the tournament to Qatar in 2010.

According to Human Rights Watch, Qatari authorities said that the number of non-Qatari deaths between 2010 and 2019 was 15,021 for all ages, occupations and causes. "But because the data is neither disaggregated nor comprehensive, it is difficult to do any meaningful analysis of migrant worker deaths," the group said.

Another worker, Ramesh Kalladi, 49, died in August 2016. He had left for Doha in 2010. Kalladi had supplied material for the construction of the road that led to the World Cup stadium in Al Rayyan, his son Sravan told the publication. Pooling his earnings and borrowing some more, Kalladi reportedly began construction of a house in his village. However, according to the report, Kalladi's health deteriorated over time and in 2016, he suffered a cardiac arrest and died in Sanaya. His death caused his family to be pushed into poverty and debt. "The road’s done, the stadium has been built but our dreams and lives have been shattered," said Sravan, who worked in Doha with his father but was forced to return after his wife had a miscarriage.

While compensation schemes are in place for workers in Qatar, a report in The Mirror said that the football governing body did not cover death from natural causes. The IE investigation showed that none of the families they spoke to had received any compensation from FIFA.

Madhu Bollapally, 43, left for Qatar from Telangana in 2013 but returned home in 2019 in a coffin. He had suffered from a heart failure and his body reached his village along with outstanding wages that amounted to Rs 27,000.

Hardaljit Singh, 25, whose job in Qatar included driving labourers to and from work sites like the World Cup stadiums, died in 2015 after suffering multiple injuries in a road accident. Singh's family learnt about his death only five or six days later and had to wait for almost a month to receive his body. "That was possible only because an acquaintance from Punjab was able to collect enough money to transport the body," a family member told the newspaper. "Hardaljit's employers did not help at all." The kin of the Punjab driver did receive an insurance payout of Rs 34 lakh that the family member said was a "godsend since it helped (them) pass a tough phase".