Expat worker’s suicide in Qatar raises concern over stranded migrants

Doha : The death of an Indian laborer in Qatar who had complained about not being paid and later committed suicide on a building site has focused attention on migrant workers struggling amid an economic downturn in the Gulf state ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

Scaffolder Ajaya Behara, 44, hanged himself in the basement of the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center on Sept. 7, weeks after asking his employer to pay outstanding wages and renew his expired visa, according to his family and co-workers.

A father of two from India’s Orissa province, Behara was stranded in Qatar on an expired visa along with some 400 other laborers owed a month’s salary by UAE-based construction firm ETA Star and living in a crowded labor camp outside Doha on supplies borrowed from local stores.

Indian community leaders are appealing to the government to address suicide among low-income laborers often driven to despair by abusive employers and the pressure of providing for families back home.