(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The Qatar government has said that a BBC television team detained by the authorities earlier this month in Doha had "trespassed on private property".
The Government Communications Office of Qatar issued the following statement regarding the detention:
"Earlier this month the government of the State of Qatar organised a press tour for reporters from the UK, Europe and the region that was designed to provide a better understanding of the challenges Qatar is facing € and the progress it is making € on the issue of migrant labour.
"The Government Communications Office invited a dozen reporters to see € first-hand € some sub-standard labour accommodation as well as some of the newer labour villages. We gave the reporters free rein to interview whomever they chose and to roam unaccompanied in the labour villages. In addition, we arranged a roundtable discussion and one-on-one interviews with the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, secretary general of the Supreme Committee for Legacy and Delivery and the director of Workers Welfare at Qatar Foundation.
"Perhaps anticipating that the government would not provide this sort of access, the BBC crew decided to do their own site visits and interviews in the days leading up to the planned tour. In doing so, they trespassed on private property, which is against the law in Qatar just as it is in most countries. After an official complaint from the owner, security forces were called and the BBC crew was detained. The crew was brought before a public prosecutor who released them after the completion of the legal procedures.
"The journalists who took part in the press tour were given an opportunity for a comprehensive look at the problems Qatar is facing, and the progress the government and the private sector are making to address those problems. They saw some of the labour villages. The BBC was meant to be part of that tour, and would have been if they had not chosen to break Qatari laws.
"Once the BBC reporter and his crew were released from detention, we tried to help them get the basic elements for the story they had missed. While the full programme could not be duplicated, a separate one-on-one interview with the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare was arranged and they were able to tour a modern labour village.
"We hope it is clear from this detailed account that the problems that the BBC reporter and his crew experienced could have been avoided if they had chosen to join the other journalists on the press tour. They would have been able to visit € in broad daylight € the very camps they tried to break into at night. Reporters from the Associated Press, AFP, the Guardian and Le Monde have filed stories on what they saw and heard in Qatar, and we invite interested readers to review their reports, which are available online.
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