Malcolm Bidali, security officer in Qatar, maintained a blog to denounce the living conditions of migrant workers subjected to forced labor on the sites of the FIFA World Cup 2022. This Kenyan national has been missing since May 4.
The Qatari government, responding to questions from the Associated Press (AP) on Tuesday, May 18, described Bidali as having been “Detained and under investigation for violating Qatar’s security laws and regulations”. Authorities in the Gulf emirate declined to give details of his arrest, place of detention, possible consular assistance and potential charges.
Qatar has “Taken many measures … to reform its work systems”said James Lynch, director of the London-based FairSquare Research and Projects group, which advocates for migrant workers in the Middle East. “Yet when a migrant worker talks about their experience, shares it and calls for change in a totally peaceful way, we see him get arrested et disappear. “
Up to ten men per room
Mr. Bidali, 28, arrived in Qatar in 2016, worked twelve hours a day as a security guard. In his spare time, he wrote under the pen name “Noah” about his experiences as a security guard, including his attempts to improve his working conditions. In his essays he praises Qatar, sometimes presented as a “Pioneer in many fields”.
However, he doesn’t hesitate to describe the cramped rooms some of his compatriots share – up to ten men per room – or the frustration of not being able to afford the “Luxury of privacy” enjoyed by expatriate Western white-collar workers and Qataris. “Why should privacy, and even family life, be reserved for privileged nationalities and financially well-off? “, he asks in an article.
A voice that annoys the Qatari authorities, who are facing a threat of boycott of the competition because of their treatment of migrant workers. The cause of Bidali’s detention is still unclear. A week before his arrest, he had exchanged comments with a large number of civil organizations and unions about his experience.