Two Norwegian TV journalists who reported on the working conditions of the guest workers around the build-up to next year’s World Cup have been arrested and deported two days later. The Guardian reported in February that more than 6,500 migrant workers had been killed while working for the World Cup. According to human rights groups, little has improved since then.
Television journalists Halvor Ekeland and Lokman Ghorbani from the Norwegian NRK were in Qatar since November 14 for an interview with Abdullah Ibhais, a former employee of the World Cup organization who stood up internally for the guest workers. That conversation fell through, because Ibhais was arrested a few hours before the interview. He was sentenced in April to five years in prison for ‘corruption’.
Ekeland and Ghorbani stayed in Qatar to make a report about the working and living conditions of the guest workers who are helping to build up the World Cup. The duo would stay one more night in Qatar after Sunday’s live news broadcast, and then leave for Norway on Monday morning. However, the duo were arrested at their hotel on Sunday evening. The Norwegians had to leave their equipment behind and were able to catch the plane after 32 hours. The pair have since landed safely in Denmark, although it is not yet clear why they were arrested by the Qatari police.
“They are impressed by what they have experienced, but under the circumstances things are going well,” explains NRK director Thor Gjermund Eriksen. He is relieved that Ekeland and Ghorbani were able to go home safely. “It is of course unacceptable that journalists should not be allowed to cover one of the biggest sporting events in the world. We definitely want to discuss this with FIFA. Do I see this as an attack on the free press? Absolute.”
“It is really terrible for some people,” Ekeland said on Sunday during a broadcast of NRK about the conditions of the workers. “You can see in their eyes that they are not well off. They have long and hard working days. But of course there are also workers who think it’s okay.” The KNVB will pay a second visit to Qatar in December. The Dutch football association wants to monitor the situation of migrant workers in the country.