New restrictions issued on international media by Qatar govt ahead of FIFA 2022
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Doha: With the World Cup in Qatar starting in less than a month, there will be rigorous limitations on media coverage, including a prohibition on international television crews questioning residents in their homes. According to the article, reporters will not be permitted to film at the locations where migrant labourers are housed.
In addition, it will also be illegal to record on any privately held property, even with the owner's consent, as well as in or near government institutions, universities, places of worship, and hospitals, according to the Guardian.
Only three areas in Doha—the Corniche beachfront promenade, the West Bay neighbourhood, and the Towers neighborhood—will be exempt from these media limitations, Indian Express reported.
According to the report, the restrictions are among a number of requirements that media organisations must accept in order to qualify for a filming permit from the Qatari government to "capture photography and videography of the most popular locations around the country."
According to the report, the applicants will also need to "acknowledge and agree" that they won't create reports that could be "inappropriate or offensive to the Qatari culture, Islamic principles," or "may arouse ethnic or religious disturbances." If they do, the outlets will be "held responsible for criminal and civil liability for any breach of the above mentioned provisions when filming," the report says.
Human rights organisations have sharply criticised Qatar, the first Middle Eastern nation to host football's premier event, for its treatment of migrant workers in the months leading up to the competition. The Council of Europe stated that more outcomes were required despite its efforts. "The number of tragic accidents continues to run into the hundreds. And enforcement of new rules isn't sufficiently effective. Workers don't have the right of assembly," said Lord George Foulkes, who chaired the hearing.
Organizing committee member Mahmoud Qutub stated on Thursday that Qatar's labour market had seen tremendous transformation since FIFA awarded the Gulf nation the World Cup in 2010.
"We embarked on this journey after we won the World Cup bid. There was an acknowledgment at the time that gaps existed. We have demonstrated through our various ecosystems that meaningful steps can be taken to fill those gaps," he had said.