A number of journalists were arrested in Qatar after reporting upon the awful working conditions surrounding the development of stadiums in the region for the World Cup 2022.
The BBC reports that after being invited to the office of Qatar’s prime minister in order to see the new living accommodation for the project’s low-paid migrant workers, they were later detained by the authorities with no reason being given for their arrest.
The report reads:
“We were on a quiet stretch of road in the capital, Doha, on our way to film a group of workers from Nepal. The working and housing conditions of migrant workers constructing new buildings in Qatar ahead of the World Cup have been heavily criticised and we wanted to see them for ourselves.
“Suddenly, eight white cars surrounded our vehicle and directed us on to a side road at speed. A dozen security officers frisked us in the street, shouting at us when we tried to talk. They took away our equipment and hard drives and drove us to their headquarters.
“Later, in the city’s main police station, the cameraman, translator, driver and I were interrogated separately by intelligence officers. The questioning was hostile. We were never accused of anything directly, instead they asked over and over what we had done and who we had met.”
The heinous working conditions have led to a huge outpouring of criticism towards FIFA and the Qatar government, with it being revealed that the death toll for Nepalese migrant workers helping with development of the World Cup stadiums had surpassed 400, as hot working conditions led to mass exhaustion and dehydration. That figure excludes deaths of Indian, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi workers, meaning that the actual fatality rate is likely higher.
Human rights organisations have stated that Qatar is not doing enough to ensure the safety of its workers, who are forced to work long hours for very little pay in temperatures of over 50C. Despite this, FIFA continues to roll ahead with its plans to host the event in the country, with increased speculation that the football organisation choosing Qatar to be the tournament’s hosts in 2022 must have been the result of a substantial bribe.
The BBC report states that its journalists were detained in prison for two nights and that their equipment was impounded by the Qatar authorities, with them still having not returned it to them. It seems like the Qatar government really didn’t want the extent of its migrant workers’ suffering being broadcast to the world.
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