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

Som Bahadur Shrestha

1971—2021
Years
of
Age
50
World
Cup
Qatar
22
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Nepal
In memory of

Som Bahadur Shrestha

1971—2021
Four years ago, Som Bahadur Shrestha started to work as a security guard. – Since then, he did not take a single day off and was never back home, says his daughter Sangita Shrestha. They were planning for his homecoming when they found out he had died in his sleep. – The day before he died, he was shopping for his son's birthday, he bought a watch for our mother and shoes for my brother. When the body arrived at the airport together with the father's belongings, all the presents were gone. – We have tried to contact his employer, but now we have given up, says the daughter.
— told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
FULL STORY
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Bishal Rayhan

2000—2020
Years
of
Age
20
World
Cup
Qatar
22
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Bishal Rayhan

2000—2020
In February 2020, the family picked up the body of their 20-year-old Bishal Rayhan's at the airport. The company did not say anything beside that he died in a car accident in Qatar's capital Doha on January 27, 2020. - He had only worked in Qatar for nine months when this happened, says his 47-year-old father Bipul Rayhan. After receiving the body, Bishal's mother has been paralyzed and the father is now trying to survive with his disabled wife and the two children in Bhairab in Kishorganj in central Bangladesh.
— told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
FULL STORY
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Mohammad Shahid Miah

1991—2020
Years
of
Age
29
World
Cup
Qatar
22
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Mohammad Shahid Miah

1991—2020
The heavy rains in Qatar in the autumn of 2020 were a death sentence for Mohammad Shahid Miah. The water found its way to the floor where he lived and reached the electricity. When Miah stepped on the wet floor, he was electrified and died. Mohammad Shahid Miah had paid a recruitment company more than $ 4,800 for the job in Qatar. The debt remains after his death and his parents now have to pay. His father says they are still waiting for compensation from the government.
— told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
FULL STORY
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Keramat Ali

1970—2020
Years
of
Age
50
World
Cup
Qatar
22
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Keramat Ali

1970—2020
In May 2020, the family brought the body of 50-year-old Keramat Ali to Laksam in the Cumilla district of southeastern Bangladesh. He died due to a stroke in Qatar in April of that year. His wife and two children, a son and a daughter, are now struggling to make ends meet. - I am struggling with the interest rates of the loans and I will soon have to take my eleven-year-old out of school and send him to work, says widow Tahmina Akhter. She says that her parents have been able to help a lot, but that it is unsustainable in the long run.
— told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
FULL STORY
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Mohammad Kaochar Khan

1983—2017
Years
of
Age
34
World
Cup
Qatar
22
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Mohammad Kaochar Khan

1983—2017
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.
— told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
FULL STORY
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Delowar Hossain

1978—2020
Years
of
Age
42
World
Cup
Qatar
22
cardsofqatar.com
Migrant worker
Bangladesh
In memory of

Delowar Hossain

1978—2020
In May 2020, Delowar Hossaini's body returned to the capital Dhaka. When he suffered a stroke, he was taken to a hospital, but his life could not be saved. The family says it was his second stroke since he started working on the irrigated farm. - After the first one, he traveled home for a while to recharge, says the widow Nasrin Akhter. The family received compensation from the company and the government in Bangladesh. With that money, the family became debt free. As soon as her two sons, who are now in high school, have graduated, they both plan to travel to Qatar.
— told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
FULL STORY
cardsofqatar.com

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