Qatar deaths
His attempts to equate the consequences of Qatar’s notorious kafala employment system, which dictates the terms on which migrant workers may enter the country, with preparations to host the London Olympics in 2012, ring hollow, unless we are to ignore the verdict of the International Trade Union Confederation, that Qatar is “a country without a conscience”, and the view of the Nepalese ambassador to Qatar, that the Gulf state is “an open jail”.
His reference to normal death rates from cardiovascular disease is also a familiar refrain, presupposing that autopsies on the estimated 1,200 migrant workers who have already died since December 2010, mostly diagnosing heart disease, have been adequately conducted.
Finally, the exclusion of hotel and infrastructure building from the “World Cup projects” subheading is also a convenient way to massage the statistics.
James Bruce
Church Street
Berwick-upon-Tweed