A tourist ticked the world’s richest country off his bucket list – and was blown away by one aspect of his trip.
Steven Ndukwu visited Qatar in December 2023 and was wowed by the country’s elegant contemporary architecture, impressive services and abundant wealth.
However, Steven was blown away to hear the list of benefits that Qatar-born residents are able to access. During his 19-minute short film, the Nigerian YouTuber interviews a nameless resident who reels a list of boons that locals are given.
The resident tells Steven: “We have free education, we have free healthcare, we have free housing. Once you reach 35 or once you get married, you’re entitled to apply your documents to get your free land and then they give you a loan from the government to help you build your house.”
Despite the apparent benevolence of the the Qatari government, critics of the country argue the various social benefits Qataris enjoy are de facto bribes from the autocratic monarchical regime.
Residents are assured of comfortable lives in exchange for civil obediance and limited political freedoms, detractors maintain.
The state has been run by the Al-Thani family since the 19th century and although the Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, is not an absolute ruler, power is largely vested in him as he appoints the prime minister and cabinet.
Videographer Steven was also left gob-smacked at the “meaningful” u-shaped Katara Towers, noting that the eye-catching structure only took ten years to build.
Throughout the video, Steven was drawn to other examples of contemporary Qatari infrastructure. Flashing images of stadia used to host the 2022 Fifa World Cup, he noted with amazement that it was all “built in less than 12 years.”
The city of Lusail, one of the host cities for the global football tournament, received most of the £185bn infrastructure investment from the Qatari government.
However, its rapid development came at a cost. According to the Guardian, more 6,500 migrant workers died during the World Cup construction drive and many of those died constructing infrastructure in Lusail.
Despite the reverence for the handouts the Qatari government gives its citizens, the country runs a ‘kafala’ employment system. This means workers can only leave their jobs at the behest of their employers. They cannot leave on their own terms.
Critics note that during the construction of World Cup infrastructure, migrant workers became de facto slaves, unable to leave their dangerous and poorly paid jobs.
