Amnesty seeks 'more detail'
Human rights group Amnesty International has urged India to give "more transparent information" about the deaths of Indian workers in Qatar, the host nation for the 2022 World Cup.
India revealed on Monday that 455 Indians had died in 2012 and 2013, prompting concerns from labour groups.
It said the "overwhelming number" of deaths were due to natural causes. Indian and Qatari officials insist there is nothing abnormal about the death rate given the population there.
About 500,000 Indians live in Qatar and India's external affairs ministry said the "figures for the number of Indian deaths in the last five years remain consistent" and are not "in any way attributable to any one cause or the other".
Nevertheless Amnesty International said the government should provide more details about the deaths.
Following a freedom of information request by the AFP news agency, the Indian embassy in Doha published figures showing that 237 Indian workers had died in Qatar in 2012 and 218 in the first 11 months of 2013. On average, about 20 died per month, peaking at 27 in August.
Comments