美国国家公共电台 NPR--Death and dishonesty: Stories of two workers who built the World Cup stadiums in Qatar

Death and dishonesty: Stories of two workers who built the World Cup stadiums in Qatar

Transcript¹

MUMBAI, India – At dusk, as neighborhood children toss a ball around in park lined with palm trees on the outskirts² of Mumbai, Ashwini Kumar looks on from a bench nearby.

Watching them shout and cheer about their favorite soccer superstars – Ronaldo! Messi! – is painful for him. It reminds him of his big brother.

"We used to play soccer together almost every evening when we were kids, in a park just like this one," Kumar, 24, recalls. "We played and played until it was so dark you couldn't see the ball!"

As they grew up, Vinod's love of soccer grew. He even won some local tournaments. So he was thrilled, his brother recalls, when he got a job three years ago to work in Qatar, building stadiums that would one day host the 2022 World Cup.

But Vinod never came home. He's one of what Qatari authorities say is hundreds — and human rights investigators³ say is thousands — of World Cup workers who died there.

There's been a lot of controversy⁴ over how the tiny Gulf⁵ nation of Qatar is hosting the biggest sports event in the world, the World Cup. Some of it has centered on labor⁶ conditions. Like much of the Gulf, Qatar's economy relies heavily on migrant labor. (By some estimates, migrant workers make up 90% of the country's work force.)

Many of them are from South Asia, and they've returned home with stories of poor working conditions, cramped⁷ accommodation, broken promises about pay – and back-breaking work in 125-degree heat.

For them, the World Cup brings mixed feelings. Many are proud to have helped build Qatar's infrastructure⁸. For others, the hype around the tournament only brings back trauma⁹.

A series of calls from Qatar — but no clear explanation of a family member's death

The Kumar family never really got answers.

"I got a call from his colleagues. They used my nickname – chhote, the young one. It's something only my family would call me," Ashwini Kumar recalls that fateful phone call in Oct. 2020. "They said my brother was missing and hung up. Then they called back and told me he was dead."

Kumar says the family got various calls from coworkers and supervisors¹⁰, who gave different explanations for Vinod's death: That he died by suicide. Or in a workplace accident. Ashwini does remember his brother saying he was forced to do tasks he wasn't trained for, like firefighting.

"He was sent there as a plumber¹¹ but was made to do other work as well — like working as a fireman in tall buildings, and risky¹² construction work where he had to climb on a pipe," he says. "Once we did a video call while he was working as a painter. And later he worked as a cleaner."

The company that hired him never sent home his stuff. Vinod Kumar was 28. He leaves behind a widow and a toddler. They're struggling financially and have moved in with Kumar's parents.

"The world should remember this, while watching our favorite teams in these air-conditioned stadiums," says Namrata Raju, an economist¹³ and labor researcher with Equidem, a global labor rights group that conducted an 18-month investigation¹⁴ into working conditions for migrant workers in Qatar, in the lead-up to this World Cup.

Raju says she and her colleagues interviewed nearly 1,000 migrant laborers¹⁵.

"They alleged¹⁶ really worrying things: Nationality-based discrimination, wage theft was very common — and there were a lot of cases of overwork," she says. "Essentially¹⁷, the conditions we found workers in were varying forms of forced labor or other forms of modern slavery. That's what we found."

The World Cup has brought scrutiny¹⁸ to the issue of migrant labor in the Gulf, which has concerned human rights advocates since well before Qatar won its bid, in 2010, to host this year's tournament.

Qatar defends itself

Qatar says it's faced unfair scrutiny and that its labor conditions have actually improved because of the World Cup.

"What the World Cup did was it allowed for a significant number of reforms to be accelerated," said the Qatari official in charge of World Cup infrastructure, Hassan Al Thawadi, at a think tank conference in October. "We always had laws and legislations that were in line with international standards. Yet the enforcement mechanisms¹⁹ — the oversight²⁰ — was not to the standards that we were proud of."

"We recognized early on that the World Cup would create momentum²¹ that will push a lot of that reform," he said.

In 2017, Qatar overhauled²² its migrant labor laws. It added protections for live-in domestic workers and labor tribunals. Last year, it became the first country in the Gulf to introduce a minimum wage that applies to all workers, regardless of nationality.

Amnesty International says there have been "noticeable improvements" in labor rights in Qatar over the past five years. But "a lack of effective implementation²³ and enforcement" still persists, the group says.

Migrant workers returning from Qatar say the same.

A Nepali migrant worker says he was misled about working conditions in Qatar

Anish Adhikari, now 26, worked construction jobs in Qatar for 33 months in the lead-up to the World Cup. In this 2021 photo, he poses inside the new Lusail stadium, which he helped build and which will host the World Cup final on Dec. 18. Adhikari says the Nepali agent who got him the job misled him about working conditions in Qatar: "They sell a dream that's not reality."

Anish Adhikari

During his 33 months working construction in Qatar, Anish Adhikari never managed to get out of debt.

By phone from his native Nepal, he told NPR how he had to take out a loan to pay a nearly $900 recruitment fee to a Nepali agent, just to get a job in Qatar in the first place — with the Hamad Bin²⁴ Khalid Contracting Company,or HBK — which is named after and owned by Qatar's royal family.

Officials from HBK did conduct safety inspections²⁵, Adhikari recalls. But he says his site supervisors rushed workers out of the half-built stadium ahead of the visits so that it wouldn't be as overcrowded. He blames contractors²⁶ and sub-contractors for shoddy implementation of labor laws in Qatar – and the Qatari government for not policing its contractors.

He also believes that potential workers did not get an accurate picture of what to expect. "The recruitment company knows everything about the condition of migrant workers in Qatar. But they lie. They focus only focus on profits for themselves," Adhikari says. "They sell a dream that's not reality."

It took Adhikari nearly six months to earn back his recruitment fee, at his salary of about $165 dollars a month – about two-thirds of what he was promised. It was still more money than he could earn in Nepal though, he acknowledges.

But the conditions, he says, were back-breaking. "In Nepal, at least you're allowed to rest! In Qatar, they threatened to cut my salary if I took breaks," Adhikari says. "And the weather was up to 52 degrees [124F], so it was very difficult. It wasn't worth it for me."

Now he's back in the Nepali capital Kathmandu, looking for work.

Despite the hardships on the job, Adhikari says he is still proud that he helped build the shimmering²⁷ gold Lusail Stadium, which will host the World Cup final on Dec. 18.

Will he watch that game?

He'd like to find a way, he says, but he's unsure. "I don't have a TV. I have to watch on my cell phone, but I don't have good wifi – and data is expensive," Adhikari explains. Money is tight even with his Qatar earnings²⁸. His family is still in debt.

Ashwini Kumar, who lost his brother, won't be watching either.

It was his brother Vinod who loved soccer, he says. And he died for it.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

5 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

8 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

9 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

10 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

11 plumber   

n.(装修水管的)管子工

参考例句：

• Have you asked the plumber to come and look at the leaking pipe?你叫管道工来检查漏水的管子了吗？
• The plumber screwed up the tap by means of a spanner.管子工用板手把龙头旋紧。

12 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

13 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

14 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

15 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

16 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

17 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

18 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

19 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

21 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

22 overhauled   

v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• Within a year the party had drastically overhauled its structure. 一年内这个政党已大刀阔斧地整顿了结构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A mechanic overhauled the car's motor with some new parts. 一个修理工对那辆汽车的发动机进行了彻底的检修，换了一些新部件。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

24 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

25 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 shimmering   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea was shimmering in the sunlight. 阳光下海水波光闪烁。
• The colours are delicate and shimmering. 这些颜色柔和且闪烁微光。 来自辞典例句

28 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。