Two British human rights workers missing in Qatar are believed to have been seized by security forces while investigating the plight of migrant workers building stadiums and hotels for the 2022 Fifa World Cup.
Krishna Upadhyaya and Ghimire Gundev, who work for the Norway-based Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD), disappeared on Sunday after complaining of police intimidation during their visit to examine the conditions of construction workers from Nepal. The incident will increase international pressure on Qatar over the exploitation of labourers drafted in by the thousand as the country prepares to host the World Cup in eight years’ time.
There are also suspicions that the men may be victims of a diplomatic dispute between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, where the GNRD has an office. The Gulf neighbours are at loggerheads over Qatar’s support for Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. The UAE was one of three Arab states to withdraw its ambassador from Doha in March.
Mr Upadhyaya, 52, and Mr Gundev, 36, both of Nepalese extraction but carrying British passports, arrived in Doha last week to interviewworkers and investigate conditions in labour camps. More than 400 Nepalese workers have so far died on Qatar’s World Cup building sites, according to a report in March by a human rights group in Kathmandu, and many more deaths are predicted.
The GNRD said Mr Upadhyaya, a lifelong campaigner against modern slavery, had called a friend on Saturday to report that he and a Nepalese diplomat were being followed by undercover police. The following day, he called the campaign group in Norway to say there were uniformed and plain-clothes policemen in front of his hotel as he checked out. He has not been heard from since and neither man boarded their flight on Sunday afternoon.
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The GNRD said the group feared that the men were in danger of mistreatment or torture. The organisation added that “in the event that our employees are subjected to any kind of physical or psychological harm, GNRD is prepared to take all necessary legal action”.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the British embassy in Doha said they were investigating. There has been no response so far from the Qatari authorities.
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