Emran Khan, 34 years old, goes through hell for two years. As a World Cup construction worker in Qatar, he experienced “mental abuse” and “modern slavery.” Back then, fear reigned supreme, today he talks to ntv.de via video telephony from a safe distance from his home in Bangladesh about false promises, his completely dehydrated body at 50 degrees Celsius and inner pain. Because of his bad experiences, he is still suffering from trauma and has made it his task to help migrant workers, also in cooperation with the human rights and labor rights organization Equidem.
ntv.de: Mr. Khan, the World Cup in Qatar is entering the home stretch. Have you been watching matches from Bangladesh?
Emran Khan: When I watch the World Cup games on TV now, it brings a lot of bad memories to the surface. I think about my life as a migrant worker in Qatar. Back then I wasn’t worth anything, I was nothing more than a tool that works. That still hurts a lot.
When did you work in Qatar? What jobs did you do?
I worked on construction sites in Qatar for two years from 2016 to 2018. My job was to check the quality of concrete slabs. So I had to test samples from all the different World Cup stadiums. Lusail, Al-Wakra, Education City, 974 Stadium. My employer’s name was Advanced Construction Technology Services. However, after much drama and hardship, I ended my life there as soon as possible and went back to Bangladesh, where I now work as a migrant workers’ activist.
What was everyday work like during these two years?
I used to get up before 5 a.m. every morning to pray. At 5 a.m. I was picked up by a bus with the other workers. We drove more than an hour to the site. Work started at 6 a.m. and breakfast was not until 10 a.m. I collected and tested 500 samples a day. These were concrete blocks weighing about eight kilos. So I had to lift 8 kg 500 times a day, so 4000 kg every day. That was too much. They broke me.
Was the work done outside in the heat?
I had to work overtime every day and often work in the very hot sun. In the summer, the temperature was already 45 degrees Celsius at 8 a.m. in the morning. At noon it was over 50 degrees. Sweating was the biggest problem. As a result, the body quickly became dehydrated and we became very tired. Sometimes I would ask my boss if he had a more suitable job because it was too hot outside in the sun or the load was too heavy. But I was never helped. Luckily I was sometimes able to work in the lab where the samples were tested.
How long were the working days?
I worked 14 to 16 hours every day. 360 days a year, without a break. No day off. But they only ever paid me a maximum of two hours of overtime per day. That was very painful for me. I usually get home around 9 p.m. and fall asleep immediately. I lived in a room with three other workers, I still know the address by heart: Labor City Building 52, Gate 7, Room F87. I often only got sleep for four or five hours because of the mental hell I went through. Sometimes I also had to sleep at work because the bus to our accommodation didn’t come for hours.
Does the mental hell you mentioned at the beginning still bother you today?
Sometimes they verbally attacked me. Luckily never physically. But I was mentally abused. Destroyed mental health is one of the biggest problems faced by migrant workers. It’s a hidden problem, many don’t talk about it. But we all have trauma.
Physical pain passes, but mental problems last. Maybe forever. I still sometimes cry when I think back to work. I will never forget those days. They treated us like slaves and used us, that was bad. We are humans, we are not machines. Migrant workers are part of modern day slavery, this is a reality in Qatar.
Can you elaborate on the psychological abuse?
Sometimes we’d finish our shifts and later work would call again and we’d have to stay on site for hours to possibly help out again. Whenever I spoke on the phone, I was yelled at. There was no humanity in the treatment. I was very afraid. We Bangladeshi workers were treated and punished particularly harshly. We were so dependent on our jobs. If I had lost my job, how could I have paid off my loans? We were too scared to complain about the work they forced us to do. Always only: “Yes, boss, yes, boss!”
What thoughts went through your head at the time?
How am I supposed to endure this any longer? How should I survive that? But I couldn’t go straight back to Bangladesh either because I was a prisoner. I had to earn money to pay off my debts and loans. Only then could I work for the money I needed for a ticket home. But how am I supposed to survive without money or a job at home? It’s a very painful situation.
Talking about debt: how was the process to get the job in Qatar? Many migrant workers have to pay fees to even get a chance at a job.
I was looking for a job abroad. Many South Asians find work in the Middle East because unskilled labor is also sought there. At that time I hadn’t learned anything or studied anything. I came into contact with the company through a middleman. The company informed me that my hiring process including visa, plane ticket and medical care would cost almost $3000. So I sold my mother’s land and jewelry and took out a loan.
The requirement for the interview was that you speak English. So I thought it would be a good company. They told me that I would make a good monthly salary. I passed the interview and paid $1,000 to a middleman. Then I was called for a second interview, passed again, and had to pay another $1,000. I was then told that the monthly salary I had been promised would have to be reduced. I protested because I had already paid $2000. They answered me: “You have no chance. If you argue with us, we will not give you a visa.” At this point I was already trapped. People in positions of power can do anything to you and I could only watch helplessly.
How much did you end up earning?
I asked them to at least give me a good job. “Please, we’re all human,” I said. They said they would try and give me a job as an assistant engineer. That it wouldn’t be construction site work. So I agreed. Then they said my monthly salary would be 1250 riyals only about 330 US dollars. They said, “That’s the way it is. You don’t have another chance now.” The promises that I would be an assistant engineer or assistant technician were all false. When I started in Qatar, I was suddenly something of a construction worker.
Violations began even before the start of work.
I went to Qatar for a better life hoping for a fair chance. I had a big dream, I wanted to earn money and build a house for my mum and dad. My parents are farmers, I am the first in the family to have an education and I have a lot of responsibility. But in Qatar they just took advantage of me. Simply exploited. Mentally I was completely drained. At the end of the day I couldn’t fulfill my dream because I never got a fair chance. Qatar destroyed my dream.
Human rights organizations denounce the fact that workers in Qatar are not given time off even when they are ill or are not paid for sick days. What is your experience with it?
We didn’t dare to say anything when we were sick. Because then you can’t work and lose money. We covered up our illnesses and worked every day. This is also related to another lie of my company. They told me when I was hired that I would get food. But then they deducted money from my already low salary. And the food was of very poor quality, unhealthy and with no nutritional value. Sometimes I suffered from hunger. We only ate the food to survive, not to stay healthy.
Studies by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch accuse Qatar that thousands of workers have died in Qatar since the World Cup was awarded to the emirate in 2010. Qatar speaks of up to 500 dead workers.
I’ve never seen a worker die, but I heard a story about a serious injury at my company. But of course they tried to hide these kinds of problems. It’s not good for a company if someone dies. So I would work anywhere in the world but never again in Qatar. Most of the time, however, we workers did not have the opportunity to talk about issues such as injured or dead workers. We were too broken.
I don’t understand the Western media on this point either. Where were you? So many people have suffered in recent years – and what have you done? When the soccer World Cup starts, you all come here. But now we have already become a victim. What about us in Bangladesh who have been hurt and are emotionally scarred? What about those who have already died? With those who have lost their families? Thank God I’ve thought about it all and I’m back in Bangladesh. (smiles)
So you can laugh again?
It’s a fake smile. It’s not an honest smile. There is a lot of pain behind it. The terrible days in Qatar are still very present. My insides are still burning. I’m talking to you normally here, but everything inside me hurts. Because I know how great their pain is, I now try to help other migrant workers. In addition to the mental problems, the most important thing is that we finally need better laws for migrant workers, with more humanity.
David spoke to Emran Khan in need