How Bangladeshi workers dying mysterious 'natural' deaths in S Arabia before FIFA World Cup: Guardian report 

Abdul Jalil Shaikh had gone to work in Saudi Arabia at the start of 2023.

It was a way to the expatriate's dream of gaining financial freedom: Go abroad, send money back home, and make a beautiful house in the village.

His wife, Khadija Begum, had been excited at the prospect of what the future held.

When Shaikh returned, he came back in a wooden box, with a Tk5 lakh debt to his recruitment agent and a note from the Bangladeshi embassy in Saudi Arabia which read: "Cause of death: natural. Postmortem: not desired. Compensation: no."

It wasn't just dreams that were dashed. It was a broken family.

Shaikh wasn't the only one to return dead. There were nine other such coffins with bodies of Bangladeshi men to return from Saudi Arabia. 

A damning investigation by The Guardian on the issue of the death toll rising over Saudi Arabia's preparations for the 2034 FIFA World Cup has spurred campaigners into action. 

The report released today (20 March) states that Shaikh was among half a million Bangladeshis – mostly young and healthy men – who left to find work in Saudi Arabia in 2023.

Speaking to The Guardian, Shariful Hasan, the associate director of the migration programme at BRAC, a Bangladeshi development agency, said more workers would make their way to the gulf country if it was awarded the hosting rights to the World Cup. 

The hosting rights are considered a foregone conclusion at this point. 

The Guardian report highlighted that between 2008 and 2022, at least 13,685 Bangladeshis died in Saudi Arabia. 

In 2022 alone, 1,502 died, a rate of more than four a day, according to official records. 

Between January and October 2022, 76% of deaths of Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia were recorded as "natural" by the Bangladeshi authorities.

But why were so many healthy, young men dying such "natural" deaths? 

The average age of those whose deaths were classified as natural in 2022 was 44, while the life expectancy of men in Bangladesh is 71.

Human rights groups have repeatedly said other factors such as harsh working and living conditions, exploitation, stress and heat stroke could be contributing to the mortality rate.

BRAC's Hasan, who has seen a number of bodies arriving from Saudi Arabia in recent years, said the scenario painted a picture of one of the wealthiest states in the world treating its migrant labourers in the "worst possible way".

Predicting that the death toll would rise if Saudi Arabia was awarded the world cup, Hasan pointed out that those who depart for the gulf country have to pass a medical at a centre approved by Saudi Arabia.

"They are fit when they leave, so why should they be dying? If it were European or US citizens, questions would be asked. Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia must investigate the causes of these deaths," Hasan told The Guardian. 

Saudi Arabia is notorious for its treatment of migrant workers, whom, Amnesty International says, "continue to be abused and exploited under the sponsorship system … thousands arbitrarily detained in inhumane conditions, tortured and otherwise ill-treated, and involuntarily returned to their home".

According to official data, fewer than 0.5% of migrating Bangladeshis are working in professional roles. Instead, they go to do what Hasan calls the most "dangerous, difficult and dirty" jobs, usually in sectors such as construction.

The deaths of migrant workers is not new. 

In fact, after the Qatar World Cup, the Bangladesh High Court sought a list of Bangladeshi migrant workers who died or got injured while constructing hotels and stadiums in Qatar between 2010 and 2022.

The HC also issued a rule asking the authorities concerned to explain in four weeks why they should not be directed to give adequate compensation to the families of Bangladeshi migrant workers.

In the petition preceding the verdict, He submitted the petition in December last year saying that at least 450 Bangladeshi migrant workers reportedly died while constructing hotels and stadiums in Qatar between 2010 and 2022 in preparation for the world cup.

In the petition,  Supreme Court lawyer Masood R Sobhan said the migrant workers from Bangladesh were treated inhumanely in Qatar.

He said at least 450 Bangladeshi migrant workers reportedly died while constructing hotels and stadiums in Qatar between 2010 and 2022 in preparation for the world cup.

Bangladesh relies heavily on the Middle East countries for inward remittances and receives almost 59 percent of the total inflow from the region.