Residents and workers in central Doha reported on October 29 that hundreds of migrant workers had been evicted by Qatari officials, putting a new pall over the World Cup countdown.
According to locals, municipal personnel and security guards entered roughly 12 buildings late on October 26 to empty them out and secure them in preparation for the tournament’s start on November 20.
The government claimed that all evictees had been placed in the alternative, safe, and suitable housing after due notice and the determination that the premises were untenable.
Some World Cup spectators will stay in residences in the neighborhood, where dozens of mechanical diggers are parked in the streets, and the affected region has just undergone extensive redevelopment, especially near Al-Mansoura.
Three nights after being ejected from one block, Yunus, a Bangladeshi driver, was sleeping on the flat-bed truck’s back on a street in Al Mansoura in the early hours of October 29.
Yunus claimed that it was his third forced relocation in the last three years.
Over 80% of Qatar’s 2.8 million people are migrants, mostly from the Asian countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, the Philippines, and African countries like Kenya and Uganda.
Regarding the treatment of foreign workers who constructed the majority of the gleaming new stadiums and World Cup transportation infrastructure, Qatar has come under heavy scrutiny.
The state, which is wealthy in energy, has come under fire for fatalities, injuries, and unpaid pay.
International unions claim that conditions have drastically improved recently, and Qatar has promoted its reforms, but rights organizations argue that more needs to be done.
Timing all wrong
The majority of the employees, according to the South Asian manager of a 24-hour shop in Al Mansoura, told AFP he witnessed evictions from two buildings, did not pay rent, and did not have leases.
The government was referred to for information by Qatar’s World Cup organizers, who have reserved several housing towers.
According to the government of Qatar, actions were taken under a 2010 statute that forbade informal and impromptu dwelling arrangements.
Residents claimed that the majority of the evicted males will relocate to places farther from the city or Doha’s sizable industrial zone.
The majority of those who were evicted don’t work for the big businesses that house and feed laborers.
News Mania Desk
