Thousands of migrant workers have died since Qatar was awarded to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Subodha Mishra made his first trip to Qatar at the age of 18. From then until his death in 2013, he spent only a few months in his home village of Bhramarpura. - He first went there because the family needed to eat, then to be able to build a house, then to be able to pay for our education, says his nephew Arun Kumar Mishra. The details of the death are unclear. Grief is mixed with unanswered questions. - The company says that it was an accident, that a truck backed into him. But we are not sure, says Manda Devi Mishra.

Throughout the past year, Rada Chinna Ramoji often told his wife Rada Sujatha that they were missing people because of Covid-19. - In January, there was a shortage of manpower and he started working 12-hour shifts, sometimes as much as 16-hours. He was always awake, says Mrs. Rada Sujatha. He often talked to his wife about how hard his job as a cleaner was. He talked about the lack of sleep, and how bad it hurts to have to get up for so long - but he was healthy. Sometime between January 24 and 25, Ramoji died. - I was told that he died of a heart attack in his sleep in the morning, says the widow Rada Sujatha.

When Jagan Gurung's son Anish Gurung turned 18 he went abroad. – I told him to get married and build a life here at home, but he refused, says father Jagan Gurung. The family paid a recruiter and he started as a construction worker in Qatar. – He was sitting in the front seat next to the driver when they collided. The father says that it feels as if the son will call him on the mobile phone at any time and that he therefore keeps it charged and within reach. – I'm just waiting for him to call and say… Aama, Babaa. Although he died on the way to the workplace, the company has not paid any compensation yet.

Sujan often told his family about the severe heat in Qatar. He also complained that he did not manage to get any good jobs.  “Sometimes he worked in a construction site in Doha and would get $219 monthly.  Sometime he would remain out of work”. Sujan did not have the time or the money to visit his home after going to Qatar. During his three year long period abroad, he did not come back home a single time. The family had plans for marrying him off soon after he returned home from Qatar. But he died abroad.

The Bangladeshi migrant worker Mohammad Kaochar Khan was fond dead in his bed on November 15, 2017 at the age of 34. In his death certificate as well as the certificate from the Bangladesh embassy in Qatar it says that his cause of death was “acute respiratory failure due to natural cause”. “His plan for migrating to Qatar was to collect a good amount of money so that he could educate his son and build a mansion”, says his younger brother Didarul Islam Khan who works for the government.

Mosharaf Hossen decided to migrate to Qatar to fulfill his dream of lifting his family out of poverty. For five years he worked as a mason at different construction sites but newer got payed on a regular basis. “The sudden and untimely death put us, a five-member family in dire hardship and debt bondage,” says Mosharaf’s widow Josna Begum. Her husband died on August 8, 2018 at the age of 38. The official cause of death was “cardiac chock” according to his death certificate.