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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Pete Pattisson and Pramod Acharya in Kathmandu

‘Dark days in Qatar’: Nepali workers face bitter legacy of World Cup debts

A billboard at Kathmandu airport calls on Fifa to compensate workers for their time in Qatar.
A billboard at Kathmandu airport calls on Fifa to compensate workers for their time in Qatar. Photograph: Amnesty International

On a huge billboard in front of Kathmandu’s international airport, is a picture of five migrant workers with the words: “Meet the hardest working team in Qatar. Wouldn’t it be great if they were compensated for it?”

Just metres away, hundreds of young men board flights to Qatar and other Gulf states every day, hoping to earn enough to look after the families they leave behind. About 400,000 Nepalis work in Qatar and many toiled for years on its preparations for the World Cup.

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