Human rights groups fear that another World Cup will be tarnished by the deaths and suffering of low-wage workers if FIFA does not take immediate action to address Saudi Arabia's pervasive mistreatment of its migrant labor.

Human Rights Watch's head of global programs, Minky Worden, expressed that “Fifa has still not learned the lesson that awarding a multibillion-dollar mega-event with no meaningful due diligence or transparency can cost lives of migrant workers and cause serious human rights risks.”

The warnings follow a Guardian investigation that discovered evidence of a high number of "unexplained" fatalities among Bangladeshi migrant laborers in Saudi Arabia. According to official data, at least 13,685 Bangladeshis died in Saudi Arabia between 2008 and 2022. More than 1,500 Bangladeshis perished in 2022 alone, at a rate of almost four per day.

Read more: Up to 10,000 Asian migrant workers die in the Gulf every year: Report

It is unknown if the fatality rate is proportionate to the enormous number of Bangladeshis who relocate to Saudi Arabia (almost half a million in 2023).

Unexplained deaths

According to The Guardian, three-quarters of Bangladeshi migrant worker deaths in the Kingdom were listed as "natural" despite their average totaling 44 and the fact that they must pass a medical examination before leaving for Saudi Arabia.

Death certificates produced by Saudi officials and reviewed by The Guardian sometimes have no cause of death, something human rights organizations call essentially "unexplained". Experts believe the difficult living and working conditions, excessive heat, and significant stress experienced by many workers may have contributed to their deaths.

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Saudi Arabia relies extensively on migrant workers, primarily from South Asia and Africa, with over 13 million non-Saudi residents, the majority of them being Bangladeshis, and their number is projected to rise considerably if they host the 2034 World Cup by FIFA.

Ella Knight, Amnesty International's migrant labor rights researcher, encouraged Saudi authorities to properly investigate all "unexplained" deaths, citing evidence linking early deaths to dangerous working conditions. "These workers cannot afford a repeat of Qatar 2022, and all the suffering it was built upon."

According to Amnesty International, the results should put FIFA under immense pressure to explain how Saudi Arabia can comply with the human rights and labor requirements that host countries must satisfy. 

Steve Cockburn, the head of economic and social justice at Amnesty Interna­tional, cited that FIFA must "make clear how it expects hosts to comply with its human rights policies." 

According to the Sports & Rights Alliance, by granting Saudi Arabia the World Cup without competition, FIFA risks losing leverage in demanding binding human rights pledges from the country.

Allegations of negligence 'unfounded'

Despite the Gulf kingdom's announcement that it has eliminated the kafala system, Knight stated that Fifa must seek "credible guarantees" that the plan will be completely destroyed.

The Kafala system, in which a Saudi national is legally accountable for the employee and should draft their contracts and visa conditions, allows foreign workers to live and work in Saudi Arabia, which has the third-largest migrant population in the world, as per a report by The Times in 2022. 

The report revealed that several human traffickers admitted to employing "physical punishment" to punish their victims if they "talked back", and they demanded that the maids work nonstop for as little as $6 per day.

Saudi Arabia’s Minis­try of Human Resources and Social Development alleged it was committed to "ongoing improvements" in its labor practices, citing “robust regulations" and "thorough investigations" into workplace incidents.

The Ministry further claimed that when deaths occur, they are treated in accordance with international standards, and accusations of negligence or a "lack of transparency" are unfounded.