Hundreds of Nepali migrant workers approached the Nepali Embassy in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday seeking its help after five of their colleagues were arrested by the police for allegedly inciting protests while they were holding a discussion with the company management.

The workers had halted work since Saturday after the company management turned a deaf ear to their repeated requests for timely salary and hygienic food. “We have come here to register our complaints,” said Krishna Kumar Timilsina, alleging that they were victims of injustice. “Therefore, instead of sending a representative all of us have come here with our grievances.” Out of the total 2,500 workers in four different camps, 1,500 had come to the embassy.

Labour attaché at the embassy, Indra Dev Pandey, who met the victims, said many of them had been denied salary for six months, while some had not been able to return home even to attend the funeral of their parents. Some of them had not received timely treatment and some were not given their identity cards, he said.

“We asked around 300 of them for their identity cards and visas and found that they were from 27 different companies,” said Pandey.

Although working for different companies, they were supplied by the ‘Dal One Company’, Qatar. Expressing ignorance that they were working for different companies, Ishwor Karki, one of the victims, said they were shown only one company. The victims had been working as drivers, helpers, carpenters and plumbers.

Timilsina, who had arrived in Qatar as a driver, complained that he had received only 1,100 riyals after working for more than seven months. The workers have demanded the immediate release of the five arrested. A complaint will be registered at the Labour Department to solve their problems, said Pandey. 

Published on: 3 September 2013 | The Kathmandu Post