ISLAMABAD: A spokesperson for the Pakistani foreign office said this week Pakistan had taken up with the Qatari government the case of labourers who had been contracted to work in Qatar - many of them on projects related to the 2022 FIFA World Cup - but had not been paid in months.
On June 10, Amnesty International revealed that an investigation by the watchdog had found that around 100 migrant workers at one of the tournament’s “crown jewel” stadiums had not been paid for up to seven months, despite Qatari authorities knowing about the problem as far back as last summer. The Amnesty report does not specify whether any of the affected laborers were Pakistani.
“The Pakistani embassy [in Doha] has already taken up all such cases with Qatar’s ministry of labor,” Pakistani foreign office spokesperson, Aisha Farooqui, told Arab News when asked about the overdue wages of labourers working in Qatar. “The minister of labor has also assured of his support in the resolution of such cases.”
Kashif Ahmed Noor, a director general at the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Pakistanis, said the Qatari government had promised Pakistan around 100,000 jobs related to World Cup projects in 2015, following which more than 80,000 Pakistanis were sent to Qatar. He said he did not have details of the “individual deployment of workers” but said around 150,000 Pakistanis in total were currently working in Qatar while around 700 had reported a delay in receiving their salaries.
“There were another 4,300 who registered for repatriation to avail leave [majority unpaid] from different companies due to the coronavirus pandemic,” Noor said, adding that a majority of the payment issues had been resolved
“We also received more complaints related to payments after the coronavirus outbreak,” he said, adding that Pakistan was working with the Qatari government and employers to resolve all pending issues.
Qadir Bakshi, a Pakistani laborer working on a World Cup football infrastructure project for the last three years, said he had not received a salary for the past three months, adding that he lost his job when he insisted on being paid.
Another Pakistani worker, Raja Muzzaffar from Bahawalpur, also said his employment was terminated after he was not paid for months.
In a statement released on June 10, the Qatari government’s communication office said in response to the Amnesty statement: “The government has made significant progress in recent years to reform the country’s labour system. There are still issues to overcome, including those related to the attitudes and behaviours of a small minority. This will take time, but we remain firmly committed to the task.”
Pakistan has taken up issue of workers' overdue salaries with Qatar — foreign office
https://arab.news/jva9q
Pakistan has taken up issue of workers' overdue salaries with Qatar — foreign office
- DG Bureau of Overseas Pakistanis says around 700 workers had complained of salary delays but “majority” cases were resolved
- Around 150,000 Pakistanis are currently working in Qatar, many of them on projects related to the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Security forces kill four militants in Pakistan’s volatile southwest, military says
- Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency
- The Balochistan government has recently established a threat assessment center to strengthen early warning, prevent ‘terrorism’ incidents
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces gunned down four militants in an intelligence-based operation in the southwestern Balochistan province, the military said on Tuesday.
The operation was conducted in Balochistan’s Kalat district on reports about the presence of militants, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
The “Indian-sponsored militants” were killed in an exchange of fire during the operation, while weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the deceased, who remained actively involved in numerous militant activities.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored terrorist found in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement.
There was no immediate response from New Delhi to the statement.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency involving Baloch separatist groups, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).
Pakistan accuses India of supporting these separatist militant groups and describes them as “Fitna Al-Hindustan.” New Delhi denies the allegation.
The government in Balochistan has also established a state-of-the-art threat assessment center to strengthen early warning and prevention against “terrorism” incidents, a senior official said this week.
“Information that was once scattered is now shared and acted upon in time, allowing the state to move from reacting after incidents to preventing them before they occur,” Balochistan Additional Chief Secretary Hamza Shafqaat wrote on X.
The development follows a steep rise in militancy-related deaths in Pakistan in 2025. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) last month, combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387.
These included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the think tank said.
