Qatar is stepping up preparations for the World Cup. Qatari authorities expelled hundreds of migrant workers from buildings in central Doha, residents and workers reported Saturday.
City employees and officials arrived on Wednesday evening to clean and close a dozen buildings, just over three weeks before the sporting event began, residents said. Some fans of the World Cup, organized from November 20 to December 18, must stay in this area, located largely in the Al-Mansoura district and redeveloped in recent years.
“Uninhabitable” buildings.
A government spokesman said the buildings were “uninhabitable” and the authorities acted under a 2010 law against “informal housing”. The warning was given to the occupiers and “the authorities are still ensuring that people are relocated to a safe and appropriate place,” according to the same source.
Younes, a Bangladeshi driver met in the neighborhood on Saturday morning three nights after being evicted from his accommodation, said he slept in the back of his pickup truck on a nearby street. “This truck is my life and I won’t leave it until I have a place to park it nearby,” he explains. This is the third time in three years he has been forced to move, he also said.
Migrants represent over 80% of Qatar’s 2.8 million inhabitants. They come mainly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal but also from the Philippines and African countries such as Kenya and Uganda.
Criticism of NGOs
The affluent Gulf state spent tens of billions of dollars hosting the tournament, but was criticized by human rights groups and international unions, including for its treatment of foreign workers, who built most of the new stadiums and transport infrastructure for the event. These organizations have denounced the working conditions of workers, unpaid wages and even deaths on construction sites, the number of which is currently uncertain.
The International Trade Union Confederation, which brings together trade union organizations from all over the world, has however noticed clear improvements in recent years. Its secretary general Sharan Burrow recently hailed to AFP the “incredible progress” of Qatar in this area, while still considering it insufficient.
Qatar says it has implemented many reforms and its leader, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, this week lashed out at “fabrication and double standards” in what it described as an “unprecedented campaign of criticism” since the country won the World Cup.
They live in these blocks to avoid paying rent
The owner of a 24-hour shop in Al Mansoura, originally from South Asia who has witnessed some evictions, says that most of those forced to leave were not paying rent and had no leases. . “I’m basically squatters,” he told him on condition of anonymity. “They stay in one building for a few months and then they have to find another one.” “They were good customers. I had brought some extra rice because they were buying so much; now I don’t have any, “he added.” In this case, the moment is so close to the World Cup that it’s all wrong, “he said.
All empty buildings seen by the AFP were dark and there was no indication that they could be used anytime soon. Residents of the neighborhood estimated that most of the evicted men would have moved to the huge industrial area of Doha or to cities further away from the capital. Because they are not employed by large companies, which provide room and board, many work for a daily wage or for small businesses. “They live in these blocks to avoid paying the rent. Wages are low, so every penny counts, ”said a migrant living near a building that was emptied.
