Utrecht church held memorial service for migrant workers killed in Qatar

A few hours before the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar, the Domkerk in Utrecht held a memorial service on Sunday at 2:30 pm for the migrant workers who died during the construction of the World Cup stadiums.

Many people filed into the church, with 250 people registered to attend. Organizers held out hope that the service may attract even more people.

The memorial service was organized by the nondenominational group, Micha Nederland, in collaboration with Missie Nederland, Living Image, PopUpWerk and Tearfund. The goal of the service was to give exploited people a face and to remove them from anonymity, said Harmen Nijmeijer, the director of Micha Netherlands.

"In recent weeks, the public debate has usually been about whether or not the Cabinet delegation should go to the World Cup. This made the conversation very political. With this memorial service, we want to reflect on the people who are involved." The organizers have also called on other churches to pay attention to what they call "the dark side of the World Cup," explained Niemeijer.

Since the allocation of the World Cup to Qatar, at least 6,500 migrant workers have died in the country from various causes, reported The Guardian. Qatar was awarded the World Cup in 2010.

According to the British newspaper, many deaths were probably related to the construction needed to make the World Cup possible as planned. "The World Cup cannot start without thinking about these people," said the organizers of the memorial service.