DOHA: Migrant workers staged a rare protest in Qatar over unpaid wages, the country’s government said Saturday, at a time of economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices.
Images on social media showed more than 100 men blocking a main road in the Msheireb district of the capital Doha late on Friday, clapping and chanting as police looked on.
“In response to the late settlement of salaries, a small number of expatriate workers conducted a peaceful protest in the Msheireb area on May 22,” the labor ministry said in a statement.
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“Following an immediate investigation (the ministry) has taken steps to ensure that all salaries will be promptly paid in the coming days.”
Legal action has been taken against the companies involved in non-payment of salaries, it added.
Almost 90 percent of Qatar’s population are expatriate workers as the country completes dozens of mega-projects ahead of its controversial hosting of the 2022 World Cup.
But the coronavirus and its devastating economic impact have left many workers sick and others unemployed, unpaid and at the mercy of sometimes unscrupulous employers.
Last month, Amnesty International accused Qatar authorities of rounding up and deporting hundreds of migrant workers from Nepal after telling them they were being taken to be tested for coronavirus.
