A BBC reporter and cameraman invited by the Qatar government to cover a new housing program for migrant workers have been arrested and detained for two nights after trying to interview Nepali workers ahead of the coverage.
Mark Lobel and his cameraman, a translator and a driver were arrested on May 2 for allegedly trespassing in violation of local laws, the BBC reporter said in a news article about their ordeal that was published Monday on the BBC News site.
Officers from Qatar's Criminal Investigations Division (CID) surrounded the news crew's car on a road in the capital of Doha at about 4 p.m., Lobel said, according to BBC News.
They were going to the industrial area when they were pulled over, frisked and taken to a police station without being informed of the charges against them. Their equipment and hard drives were confiscated and, as of Monday, they have not yet been returned, according to Lobel.
Intelligence officers interrogated the journalist, cameraman, translator and driver separately, asking them repeatedly what they did and who did they met. After the questioning that lasted until 1 a.m., they were taken to prison.
Lobel said they were released at 4 a.m. on May 4, but he was ordered to remain in the country until May 10.
Except for having to sleep on a soiled mattress, Lobel said they were not maltreated in the prison and were fed properly.
After their release, Lobel and his cameraman rejoined the press tour that Qatar's Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and Government Communications Office (GCO) organized for a dozen international reporters and photographers to show the improvement in housing accommodation for foreign workers in the country.
The Qatar government accused the journalist of trespassing on private property.
Their detention, however, could have been avoided if Lobel and his new team joined the other journalists on the press tour, GCO head Saif Al-Thani said, according to Doha News.
Lobel said that London-based PR firm, Portland Communications, and Qatar's World Cup organizing committee helped run the press tour, which showed him and other foreign journalists villas for construction workers, according to BBC News. The villas are spacious and with swimming pools, gyms and welfare officers, he said.
Abdullah Saleh Al Khulaifi, Qatar's minister of labor and social affairs, said reports on migrant workers' poor living conditions were exaggerated and the government has improved it.
Focus on Qatar's migrant labor has increased as the country prepares for hosting the World Cup in 2022.
