Qatar accused of arresting, expelling migrant workers amid COVID19 outbreak

CAIRO - 16 April 2020: The Qatari regime is accused of arresting and expelling migrant works during the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, announced The Amnesty International in a statement on April 15.

Although they have been told that they will tested for the COVID-19, dozens of the migrant workers were taken to detention centers instead on April 12 and 13, the organization said, adding that 20 migrants talked about the bad treatment they received in the detention by the Qatari police before being departed back to Nepal.

Other migrants were expelled from their works on April 15 and 19, the organization said, noting that the migrant workers were not given enough time to pack their luggage for deportation.

“None of the men we spoke to had received any explanation for why they were treated this way, nor were they able to challenge their detention or expulsion,” the organization said.

One of the interviewees told the organization that the migrant workers were taken to a detention facility in an industrial area, where no beds were provided and they inhumanly treated.

“We were asked to stop to test for the virus. Police told us that the doctor would come and check the virus. But they lied to us,” he was quoted as saying by the organization.

The Amnesty International called on the Qatari authorities to state the reasons for detention and expulsion of the workers, with giving those workers the right to challenge them. It also announced that the Qatari authorities have provide the migrant worker the health protection they need amid the pandemic.

As yet, the number of confirmed cases infected with COVID-19 in Qatar reached 4,103, while the death toll rose to seven, according to the latest update by the Qatari Ministry of Health on Thursday.

A shocking TV documentary by German public broadcaster WDR last year revealed that at least 1,400 migrant workers from Nepal have died while helping to build football stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

According to Nepali government figures, construction site accidents and squalid living conditions in the tiny Gulf state are claiming around 110 lives every year.