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

Read their stories.

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Since Qatar was awarded the 2022 FIFA World Cup, thousands of migrant workers have died. In search for answers, journalism platform Blankspot collected stories directly from their families. We then created Cards of Qatar – a catalogue of football cards that instead of facts about players tell the stories of the workers who never returned.

Read their stories and long form articles highlighting the reality of the situation for the migrant workers who built Qatar. Read more

THE CARDS


Migrant worker
Nepal
In memory of

Tul Bahadur Gharti

1986—2020
Years
of
Age
34
World
Cup
Qatar
22
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Nepal
In memory of

Tul Bahadur Gharti

1986—2020
Tul Bahadur Gharti from Nepal died on the night of May 28, 2020, at the age of 34. His death certificate issued by the Qatari authorities states that his death was due to "acute heart failure due to natural causes". "He never complained of any symptoms. I have a hard time believing that he would just die," Ms Bipana told Amnesty International. She wanted his body to be autopsied, but was told by his neighbors in Qatar that it would not be possible to determine the cause of death. "We had no children of our own and it feels as if they set my husband on fire and as if I am burning in oil".
— told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
FULL STORY
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Zohorul Islam

1997–2020
Years
of
Age
23
World
Cup
Qatar
22
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Zohorul Islam

1997–2020
Zohorul’s death in Qatar couldn’t have happened at a worse time. The family was even before his death passing through economic hardship.  They had borrowed money from a local NGO, moneylenders and relatives to send Zohorul to Qatar to work as a cleaner. Rina Akter, elder sister, and Sharmin Akter, younger sister, of Zohorul claimed that their only brother did not have any previous health complications or diseases in Bangladesh.
— told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
FULL STORY
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Mohammad Russel Parvez

1987—2020
Years
of
Age
33
World
Cup
Qatar
22
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Mohammad Russel Parvez

1987—2020
The body of Mohammad Russel Parvez was found in a trash bin in the Qatar few days before Christmas in 2020. He was 33 and an only son. Shirina Akhter Banu, his mother, received his body in the home village, Doulatpur, in western Bangladesh the following month. He was a construction worker, when he fell from a 10-story building, his mother says. After his death, the wife moved in with his parents. She was satisfied with the financial compensation from the company, but no money in the world can replace the loss of a human life, she says.
— told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
FULL STORY
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Nepal
In memory of

Durga Kumari Bhandari

1987—2020
Years
of
Age
33
World
Cup
Qatar
22
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Nepal
In memory of

Durga Kumari Bhandari

1987—2020
Narayan Prasad Parajuli and Durga Kumari Bhandari worked in Qatar. Married for 15 years. - Our life was good. Until one day my wife suddenly got a lightning headache, remembers Narayan Prasad Parajuli. At the hospital, the doctors assessed that she had a brain tumor. The treatment started immediately but she died after eight months. - I still have not told Nayan that his mother is dead. He still thinks she's in the hospital and he still texts her. Personally, I don’t think I will ever be happy again, says Narayan Prasad Parajuli.
— told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
FULL STORY
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Zobair Ahmed

1988—2020
Years
of
Age
32
World
Cup
Qatar
22
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Zobair Ahmed

1988—2020
In February 2020, Farzana Akhter lost her husband and gave birth to their first daughter. Instead of celebrating a new life, she had to go to the airport and claim Zobair Ahmed’s dead body along with $410 and a death certificate. He was 32 and had worked as a driver in Qatar for nine years. The official cause of death said “strangulation”. It was unclear if he had committed suicide or accidentally ended up hanging in his helmet strap. “I refuse to believe that he would have taken his own life,” the widow says. “I see no reason why.”
— told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
FULL STORY
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Nuruddin Echar Uddin

1984—2020
Years
of
Age
36
World
Cup
Qatar
22
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Nuruddin Echar Uddin

1984—2020
On January 30, an air conditioning system exploded in the kitchen where Nuruddin worked. One month later, the family received his body from Qatar, where he had traveled four years earlier to work as a chef. His wife says that during the ten years she was married to Nuruddin, she almost never met him. - We got married over the phone when he worked in Dubai and we barely met a few days during our ten-year marriage, says Mosamamat Nazma Akter Beauty Chowdhury who is 26. Now she has to support the family alone. - My only wish now is for our two sons to be able to stay in school.
— told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
FULL STORY
cardsofqatar.com

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