By Andrew Warshaw
May 19 – Qatari authorities, under fresh pressure to improve their human rights record ahead of the 2022 World Cup, have hit back at BBC claims that a reporting team was arrested and detained for trying to film conditions at migrant workers’ housing despite being on an officially sanctioned visit to the country.
In an article published on the BBC website, reporter Mark Lobel said he and his three-man crew were forced to spend two nights in a prison before being released. No charges were brought.
Qatar’s state-run communications office said the BBC crew could have avoided being detained if they had joined an organised press tour which other news organisations took part in. The trip was arranged in early May for journalists from Europe and the Middle East.
The authorities said the BBC crew had arrived in Doha prior to the planned tour and decided to conduct their own site visit, which led to their arrest by security forces.
“They trespassed on private property, which is against the law in Qatar just as it is in most countries. Security forces were called and the BBC crew was detained,” a statement said.
“The government and the private sector are making significant progress in efforts to improve the lives and the labour conditions of guest workers in Qatar.”
But the BBC, in turn, countered Qatar’s version of events.
In its own statement, it said: “We are pleased that the BBC team has been released but we deplore the fact that they were detained in the first place. Their presence in Qatar was no secret and they were engaged in a perfectly proper piece of journalism.
“The Qatari authorities have made a series of conflicting allegations to justify the detention, all of which the team rejects. We are pressing the Qatari authorities for a full explanation and for the return of the confiscated equipment.”
Ever since the Gulf state was awarded the 2022 World Cup, it has been fending off accusations of human rights abuses and allegations of corruption. On Monday, pressure groups held a news conference in London to urge FIFA’s main sponsors to use their commercial clout to bring about change.
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