According to residents, many migrant workers were evicted from the authorities’ new compounds in Doha. Casting a shadow over the entire countdown to the World Cup.
Late yesterday, the city police and municipal workers moved to nearby buildings. Clear out and lock them at the onset of the tournament, which commences on November 20.
The government stated that the structures had been declared “uninhabitable,” proper notice have issued, and an alternative “safe and appropriate accommodation” was identified for all evicted.
The area affected, around Al-Mansoura, was extensively redeveloped over the last few times. Some World Cup fans will stay in apartments in the area where several diggers weighing a ton have parked on the streets.
On the morning of Saturday, Yunus, a Bangladeshi bus driver, drove out of his vehicle on a small street in Birmingham, Al Mansoura; he was on his way to a local hotel.
The night he began camping, there was not enough time to adjourn to different locations. At this moment, “this truck is my life,” he said.
As long as he could match it into a parking spot, he would not leave that trailer.
Yunus claimed it was the 3rd time he’s moved in the last three years.
Migrants led by an influx from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Philippines. African nations, including Kenya and Uganda, comprise more than 80 percent of Qatar’s 2.8 million inhabitants.
Qatar has come under severe scrutiny for its treatment of foreign laborers. Who designed the majority of modern stadiums and infrastructure for transport to this year’s World Cup?
The state, awash in energy, has been accused of causing accidents and deaths and not paying wages.
International trade unions say the work environment has dramatically improved recently, and Qatar has emphasized its reforms. – There has been a ‘radical’ improvement – but minority rights groups say that more must do.
The South Asian manager of a 24-hour shop in Al Mansoura told AFP. He witnessed evictions in two buildings and said that most employees paid no rent and were not leased.
“They are squatters,” said the man, on the condition that he remain anonymous. “They remain for a couple of months in one place before being forced to move into another.
“They were good clients. I had brought in extra rice because they buy so much; now I am left with it,” the manager said.
“In this case, the timing so close to the World Cup is all wrong.”
The Qatari World Cup organizers have reserved apartments and referred questions to the Qatar government.
Authorities in Qatar decided in 2010 to stop “informal and unplanned housing arrangements.”
A Qatar government official told AFP that those who live in uninhabitable premises with no formal leases have been provided with the option to relocate elsewhere in a reasonable time frame.
“Officials always ensure individuals have rehoused in safe and appropriate accommodation.”
Most residents said those evicted from their homes would go to Doha’s vast industrial zone or towns further from the capital.
Many of those being exiled does not work for major corporations that provide housing and food for the workers.
A lot of them work at an hourly rate or for small businesses. “They live in these blocks to avoid paying rent. The wages are low, so every cent counts,” said a migrant who lives close to a demolished house.
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