The construction of the Great Wall of China, initiated by the Emperor Qin Shihuang, was achieved at incredible human cost. Bodies sacrificed in the course of construction were buried near the wall as reminders of their labour in what became, in accordance with a Chinese expression, “The Longest Cemetery on Earth”. The legend of Meng Jiangnu tells a different tale, a widow who, on discovering that her husband had died and been interred in the fortifications, wept such tears as to wash the earthen ramparts away, thereby revealing his remains.
Where there is industry and construction in the name of image and security, death is the standard tariff. The more recently constructed Hoover Dam, to take another spectacular example, was built at the cost over 100 lives, with 96 identified as “industrial fatalities”. Others perished due to pneumonia occasioned by exposure to high levels of carbon monoxide. They remain the uncompensated, the forgotten.
While lacking that cadaverous gravitas, the football World Cup, like other enormous sporting occasions, generates its own cruelties, its own brutalities. Impressions by the host state have to be made. Slums have to be cleared. Infrastructure has to be improved. The streets need sprucing. In the case of Qatar, already plagued by its grant of the 2022 football World Cup, the body count of its bloodied labour is rising, specifically over appalling working conditions. The ball must be kicked on time, after all.
(...)
The donors of blood in this case are mainly migrants, drawn from a huge army of some 1.2 million workers who are toiling for the egomania of Qatar’s sporting Meisterwerk. The labourers themselves hail from the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India, huge markets of labour and potential misuse.
Investigations by the ITUC reveal that autopsies rarely take place of the victims. The standard response is simple: death from heart failure. Besides, there are always more where they came from. Such rates of mortality and cause may seem less surprising given the remarks of the now recalled Nepalese ambassador to Qatar, Maya Kumari, who called the country “an open jail”. The strong reaction came after revelations that 44 Nepalese had died during the summer. Indian authorities are also puzzled: some 82 workers lost their lives in the first half of this year alone. The embassy in Doha has been swamped with complaints. Full story...
Related posts:
Where there is industry and construction in the name of image and security, death is the standard tariff. The more recently constructed Hoover Dam, to take another spectacular example, was built at the cost over 100 lives, with 96 identified as “industrial fatalities”. Others perished due to pneumonia occasioned by exposure to high levels of carbon monoxide. They remain the uncompensated, the forgotten.
While lacking that cadaverous gravitas, the football World Cup, like other enormous sporting occasions, generates its own cruelties, its own brutalities. Impressions by the host state have to be made. Slums have to be cleared. Infrastructure has to be improved. The streets need sprucing. In the case of Qatar, already plagued by its grant of the 2022 football World Cup, the body count of its bloodied labour is rising, specifically over appalling working conditions. The ball must be kicked on time, after all.
(...)
The donors of blood in this case are mainly migrants, drawn from a huge army of some 1.2 million workers who are toiling for the egomania of Qatar’s sporting Meisterwerk. The labourers themselves hail from the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India, huge markets of labour and potential misuse.
Investigations by the ITUC reveal that autopsies rarely take place of the victims. The standard response is simple: death from heart failure. Besides, there are always more where they came from. Such rates of mortality and cause may seem less surprising given the remarks of the now recalled Nepalese ambassador to Qatar, Maya Kumari, who called the country “an open jail”. The strong reaction came after revelations that 44 Nepalese had died during the summer. Indian authorities are also puzzled: some 82 workers lost their lives in the first half of this year alone. The embassy in Doha has been swamped with complaints. Full story...
Related posts:
- Appalling migrant worker conditions in Qatar...
- Qatar World Cup 2022: 70 Nepalese workers die on building sites...
- Built on Bones: Qatar World Cup construction workers die daily...
- Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'
- World Cup hosts Qatar face scrutiny over 'slavery' accusations...
- No, I'm not going to the World Cup...
No comments:
Post a Comment