On 12 October members of the Nepali community in London and British labour movement and migrants' rights activists protested outside the Qatari embassy to protest against the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar. More than 700, mainly Nepali, workers have died in the last year, the majority as a result of heart failures or industrial accidents, as the Gulf dictatorship goes into a building overdrive in preparation for the 2022 World Cup.
Protest organiser Shreya Paudel is on the right
The protest was initiated by Shreya Paudel, a socialist student movement activist and former president of Middlesex University students' union, who in January spoke to Solidarity about gender violence in Nepal.
In the run up to the protest, many labour movement activists including Len McCluskey of Unite, Bob Crow of the RMT and Christine Blower of the NUT signed a letter protesting and demanding the Qatari government improve conditions and allow independent trade unions.
There will be an ongoing campaign of activity in solidarity with workers in Qatar: see here on Facebook for details as they come out. You can also sign a petition here.
Below: Janine Booth, Workers' Liberty member and London Transport workers' representative on the RMT national executive, speaks about the need for independent unions and for international labour movement pressure to help workers in Qatar.
