Dubai Expo 2020 reveals 3 worker deaths from COVID-19 – FOX23 News

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – (AP) – Expo 2020 Dubai first acknowledged on Sunday that three workers had died from coronavirus during construction of the World’s Fair during the pandemic, as the prestigious event draws attention to working conditions in the United Arab Emirates.

Asked at a press conference about deaths among Expo’s vast foreign workforce, spokesman Sconaid McGeachin said three workers died from the virus in addition to three from construction accidents , without specifying when. She declined to describe the extent of the coronavirus outbreak among workers on site.

McGeachin again claimed that information on workplace accidents was previously available, without further details. However, authorities in the run-up to the $ 7 billion fair had not provided any aggregate statistics on worker deaths, injuries or coronavirus infections despite repeated requests from The Associated Press and other reporters. .

The statement comes a day after the Expo offered conflicting reports on the number of workers who died on the site.

The UAE has long been criticized by human rights activists for mistreating the legions of poorly paid migrant workers from Africa, Asia and the Middle East who fuel the country’s economy. Dubai has bet billions on its elaborate World Expo, hoping to make it a huge tourist attraction and a symbol of the country’s allure.

But problems arose. The European Parliament last month urged countries not to participate in the Expo, citing the UAE’s “inhumane practices against foreign workers” which it said worsened during the pandemic.

To pay homage to the thousands of workers who worked hard to build the fairground from scratch, the site features a somber workers monument – stone columns wrapped in an engraved appeal of the names of the workers at the Expo’s Jubilee. Park, nestled between a performance stage and a popular Dubai chain of bars.

The massive global event also renewed criticism from human rights groups against the UAE’s removal of dissent and restrictions on free speech.

At a press conference on Saturday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian responded to a question about European Parliament concerns over labor abuse in the United Arab Emirates, saying France would not join his call for a boycott of the Expo and would instead raise potential problems with the Emirates. authorities “behind closed doors”. However, the sensitive exchange was inexplicably absent from the Expo’s official transcript of the press conference, raising concerns about transparency on the site.

“I’ll take a look at this,” McGeachin said when asked about the omission. “I would like to say it’s an oversight.”

Meanwhile, longtime Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has arrived to visit his country’s pavilion at the Expo. He called the site and the UAE’s efforts to build the small town a “challenge for Africans” because they had “turned a desert into a center of abundance”.

“Yesterday when I arrived they took me for a COVID test,” he said. “In Africa we sometimes say, ‘grown-ups shouldn’t be controlled’. “

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Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell contributed to this report.

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