Certain reports are coming in stating migrant workers, angry over rights abuses, staged violent protests in Qatar just a few days ago.
The workers took to the streets, calling out oppressive government policies, overdue wages and inhuman working conditions.
The images posted to social media showed cars reportedly destroyed by angry demonstrators, who work on building stadiums that will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Doha offered no official statement for the alleged riots.
The hashtag “Riot Acts in Qatar” has become a popular one over the past hours in a show of solidarity with the protesting workers. Tweeters also mocked the Qatari news television Al Jazeera for completely ignoring the protests.
“Al Jazeera: Vehicles are taking a nap! News of protests is incorrect!” said a commentator, named Abdul Latif, in a sarcastic post.
Another tweeter, called Ahmad Al Sarem, challenged Al Jazeera to shed light on labor conditions in Qatar.
“Will Al Jazeera dare to report about the ordeal of these workers, who are deprived of their basic rights?” he said.
Al Jazeera is often critical of governments in other Arab countries and is accused of biased coverage.
Nepal workers are stuck in Qatar
According to a report published by Myanmar’s news magazine, Nepali workers in Qatar are left hanging after falling into the trap of agents and recruiting agencies that promise them lucrative jobs and the prospect of changing work through a special visa scheme once landing in Qatar.
Workers from Nepal who go to Qatar on free visa, better known as Aazad Visa, which the agents claim would provide them with the freedom to work with any employer in Qatar, are often stranded without any jobs in the Gulf nation.
The Nepali embassy in Qatar told the Post that it regularly comes across workers who have entered Qatar under this visa category. But there’s one problem: the visa category doesn’t exist.
“This is not any special or different category of visa given to migrant workers. They enter Qatar following the normal procedure,” Narendra Raj Gyanwali, labor attache at the Nepali embassy in Doha, told the Post over the phone. “Even workers try to hide during pre-departure processing as they hope that they will be earning handsome salary there.”
This category of visa is mostly created in collusion with agents, recruiting agencies, employer companies and their human resource officials. They lure migrant workers saying that they can change their company or employer and can work freely hence earn more money than a regular job.
What about human rights?
Human rights advocates have repeatedly accused Qatar of abusing the labor law and the workers, as the energy-rich country is struggling to host the 2022 World Cup.
Earlier this month, several human rights watchdogs have cited the death of more than 1,200 migrant workers while building sports facilities in Qatar and charged a government rights commission of covering up the deaths.
Qatar is increasingly becoming a pariah after the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and transportation links with it for its alleged support to extremist group.
This article is written as an opinion of our foreign correspondent does not represent the opinion of World2Day or any of its staff members.
