Qatar Arrests BBC Journalists Reporting on 2022 World Cup

The government of Qatar has arrested BBC journalists for their investigation into the conditions of workers, said to be treated as slaves, building stadiums for the 2022 World Cup.

The BBC reports that the journalists were arrested as they tried to visit one of the work camps housing Nepalese workers near the capital of Doha. As the journalists drove to the camp, they were surrounded by eight white cars that seemed to appear from nowhere.

A large group of men exited the vehicles, shouting at the reporters and frisking them. The government agents then took all of the journalists' equipment and hard drives before abducting them and taking them to their headquarters.

The journalists and their crew of translators, drivers, and cameramen were then separated and hostilely interrogated by various intelligence agents.

The journalists and their crew were not allowed to make any phone calls and had their detainment described to them as an issue of, "national security." The intelligence agents then showed the detained crew pictures of them at various stages of their trip, drinking coffee, and lounging poolside.

At around 1:00 a.m., they were then taken to a local prison. In all the journalists and their assistants were held for 13 hours, for doing their jobs, despite the fact that they were in Qatar at the government's invitation in the first place.

One of the men interrogating the crew threatened to keep them in jail for four more days and said Qatar was not, "Disneyland."

The journalists were trying to see if there was any merit to previous reports about dangerous working conditions and rampant wage theft. The BBC met at least one worker who validated those reports, saying that he was promised a wage of $300 a month in Nepal, only to receive roughly $165 once he began working.