NGO: British human rights investigators missing, 'at risk of torture' in Qatar

A Norweigian human rights organisation says it believes two of its investigators are “at risk of forced disappearance” in Qatar, after disappearing in Doha on Sunday while investigating the plight of migrant workers in the Gulf State.

Krishna Upadhyaya, 52, and Ghimire Gundev, 36, both British citizens, were investigating the treatment of migrant labourers working to build facilities for the 2022 World Cup, according to a report in the The Independent.

The two men have not been seen since they texted colleagues at the Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD), the Norweigian NGO where they work, to say that they were being followed by plain-clothes police officers.

A diplomat residing in Qatar had been informed of the situation, and requested that authorities stop following the men immediately, The Independent reported.

They were due to fly out of the country on Sunday morning, but reportedly told colleagues that they feared they would be stopped and arrested as they tried to leave Qatar.

According to a statement released by Upadhyaya’s family, quoted in The Independent, the men believed they might face “some trouble” linked to their work interviewing Nepali labourers and investigating the conditions in the camps where they live.

GNRD says it fears the men are “at risk of torture”, and calls on Qatari authorities to disclose the whereabouts of the investigators immediately, and to ensure that they are provided with a lawyer of their choice.

Qatar has faced stiff criticism over the working conditions of migrants, and particularly those who are building facilities for the controversial 2022 World Cup set to be hosted there.

964 migrant labourers from Nepal, India and Bangladesh died while working in Qatar in 2012 and 2013.

Between January and April 2014, 53 Nepali nationals died while working in Qatar.

There are an estimated 1.4m migrant workers in the country, a sixth of whom are Nepali nationals.