Govt plays down reports of death of Indians in Qatar

Government today sought to play down reports of death of over 450 Indians in Qatar in last two years, saying the figure was not alarming considering the size of the Indian community in the Gulf nation.
Joint Secretary in Gulf Division in Ministry of External Affairs Mridul Kumar said welfare and safety of Indian expatriate in Gulf countries has been among the top priorities of the government and the reports about death of Indians in Qatar was not abnormal.
"Obviously when you have a community of 500,000, there will be cases of death, there will be cases of death by natural causes, there will be cases of unnatural deaths including road accidents etc," he said when asked about the issue.

The Indian embassy in Doha also issued a statement saying the number of deaths is quite normal considering the "large size of our community".
Media reports have said more than 450 Indian migrants working in Qatar have died in the last two years. Qatar is hosting 2022 football World Cup.
Indian nationals comprise the largest expatriate community in Qatar and the two countries have historically enjoyed close and friendly relations.

"If the Indian expatriate community has been ill treated in Gulf I do not see any reason why the numbers are growing exponentially in the last so many years," said Kumar.

According to reports, there are some 1.35 million foreign nationals - including from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal - working in Qatar. Migrant workers make up some 94 per cent of the total workforce in the country.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International India said India should provide more detailed information about the circumstances of deaths in Qatar and other Gulf nations.
In November 2013, Amnesty released an extensive report on alleged human rights abuses in Qatar's construction sector ahead of the Qatar 2022 football World Cup.
The report documented alleged widespread and routine abuse of migrant workers - in some cases amounting to forced labour.