The organization of Expo 2020 in Dubai has acknowledged that five construction workers have died during the construction of the world exhibition. It is the first time that statistics on fatalities have been released.
Earlier, the organization of the world exhibition reported that more than 200,000 workers together spent about 240 million hours on construction. Despite repeated inquiries from abroad, no figures have yet been released about deaths, injuries or corona infections among workers.
The United Arab Emirates is largely dependent on low-paid migrant workers to keep the economy going. These migrants often come from other Arab countries, Africa and Asia.
Expo 2020, that started last Thursday after a year of delay due to corona, has been criticized in recent months for the conditions under which migrant workers had to work. Some construction companies confiscated passports and made them work long hours in the desert climate. For this reason, the European Parliament called on EU Member States and other countries last month not to participate in the Expo, which will last until March 31.
Millions of visitors
The organization of the first ever world exhibition in the Middle East is committed to presenting the exhibition in a positive light. Dubai hopes to attract millions of international visitors with the Expo.
An Expo spokesperson yesterday acknowledged that authorities were aware of cases where contractors withheld passports and were involved in suspicious hiring practices and workplace safety violations. “We have taken steps to ensure those issues are addressed,” she said.
There is also a Dutch pavilion at the Expo. The Dutch Consul General in Dubai Carel Richter emphasizes that the working conditions were in order during the construction of the Dutch pavilion. “Careful research has been done into the conditions of the workforce, even at the hotels where they stayed.”
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