As the World Cup begins, we look at the host country of Qatar’s labor and human rights record. “This is the deadliest major sporting event, possibly ever, in history,” says Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch, who describes how millions of migrant workers from the world’s poorest countries have faced deadly and forced labor conditions working on the $2 billion infrastructure. By one count, 6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar since 2010, when it was awarded the right to host the games. “These are unprecedented labor rights abuses,” says Worden, who claims “there’s no ability if you’re a migrant worker in Qatar to strike for your basic human rights.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.