Boniface Barasa worked as a construction worker in Qatar for three years, but the veteran football fan now says he was so traumatized by the experience that it's hard for him to watch World Cup matches.

Barasa, 38, says in an interview with CNN he witnessed a colleague die after collapsing from extreme heat that can reach 50 degrees.. He suspects that this person may have been dehydrated due to limited breaks.. Barasa worked at Lusail Stadium.

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His story echoes that of other foreign workers, mostly from South Asia and Africa, who were instrumental in preparing the country for the World Cup..

Authorities have acknowledged hundreds of deaths in construction and related industries in the 13 years since FIFA gave away the tournament to the Gulf nation.

On December 10, 24-year-old Kenyan security guard John Njue Kibue fell from the eighth floor of Lusail Stadium and died in hospital, his relatives told CNN..

Another person died at a resort used by Saudi Arabia during the tournament's group stages.

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Organizers said they are investigating Kibue's death, which has brought renewed attention to Qatar's treatment of migrant workers as the World Cup draws to a close..

While the investigation is underway, complaints from workers in Qatar continue to come in.. One migrant rights activist in Kenya says he receives thousands of messages from Gulf workers.

Jeffrey Owino says he worked in the country as a safety officer from 2018 until June of this year, when the Qatari authorities deported him. He campaigned for migrants' rights when he was there and continues to do so today..

Owino told CNN that many of the complaints he receives range from wage arrears to physical abuse..

Owino says that while working in Qatar, he saw first hand the mistreatment of some migrant workers..

During his first week on the job in 2018, he says he was pressured into signing an employment contract that he did not read.. He was initially reluctant, but eventually signed the contract after remembering that he had paid $1,500 to an agent in Kenya to get a job that promised $400 a month..

When he arrived there, he said he was only paid $200 a month and lived with seven other people in the same room..

Owino says that as a safety inspector, he often talked about the Lusail stadium builders working in extreme temperatures.. But, according to him, he was ignored, as officials were in a hurry to finish the construction..

According to him, the authorities detained him three times without explanation and sent him to a deportation camp because he complained about the mistreatment of his work colleagues..

According to him, he challenged the deportation twice and was released. But after the authorities detained him for the third time, he says he gave up the fight and was expelled from the country..

CNN has reached out to the Qatari government for comment on the working conditions of migrants in the country as well as Owino's statements, but a Qatari government spokesman previously told CNN that any claims that workers are "

Now back in Nairobi, Owino has earned the nickname "

Owino says he continues to help workers abroad and seek compensation for them from organizations such as FIFA.

Owino also works with human rights and labor rights organization Equidem, documenting the experiences of workers who have returned to Kenya..

Equidem is investigating complaints of mistreatment by current and former migrant workers across the Gulf, but in a report released last month on Qatar, Equidem found widespread abuses including forced labor, unpaid wages, ethnic discrimination and.

In a written response to the report, World Cup organizers said it was "

Last month, Qatari leader Hassan Al-Thawadi told British television that between 400 and 500 migrant workers had died as the Gulf nation prepared for the World Cup, far more than authorities had previously acknowledged.. But he said that only a few deaths were directly related to the construction of stadiums..

In response to criticism, Qatar took steps to reform and in 2017 signed an agreement with the International Labor Organization (ILO).

For example, he abolished the government sponsorship system known as kafala and gave workers the freedom to change jobs before the end of the contract without the consent of the employer..

It also became the first country in the region to introduce a non-discriminatory minimum wage and a policy requiring employers to pay on time.. In addition, the country has adopted a new health, safety and inspection policy..

Qatar praised for the steps it has taken to improve the protection of migrant workers. However, the ILO acknowledged last month that more needs to be done as reports of vulnerable workers facing retaliation from employers.

With the start of the World Cup, some black migrant workers have become highly visible in a country where they often remain invisible - part of the workforce, but not of society..

Kenya's Abubaker Abbas - aka the "

Tournament organizers have boosted the profile of the 23-year-old Kenyan in an apparent attempt to counter criticism over Qatar's treatment of migrant workers..

He even took to the pitch as a surprise guest ahead of the highly anticipated England-US match, prompting chants of \! in a crowded stadium.

Elsewhere in Doha, another Kenyan, Dennis Kamau, has also become famous on the Internet as an enthusiastic dispatcher who dances to guide cars and pedestrians during the games..

However, the spectacle masks a grim reality for those working behind the scenes, says Malcolm Bidali, a Kenyan migrant rights advocate and former security guard in Qatar who has tried to expose the working and living conditions of migrants..

Bidali says Qatari authorities placed him in solitary confinement in 2021 after he spoke out on social media for better conditions for migrant workers.

The Qatari government accused him of allegedly taking money from "

After organizations such as Amnesty International campaigned for his release, he was eventually released. The traumatic ordeal prompted him to leave Qatar, he says..

Bidali says he is concerned about the fate of workers in Qatar after the World Cup ends and attention to them wanes. He fears that workers' rights will be restricted without any accountability..

“As we speak, people are still not getting paid, people are still living in cramped conditions, people are still facing physical, verbal, sexual abuse, discrimination, long hours and terrible working conditions,” Bidali said..