A name you might not yet know in the fight for labour rights – but you likely will

The name Malcolm Bidali probably means little to most people right now, but that could soon change.

Bidali is a Kenyan security guard working in Qatar, an activist who regularly blogged about terrible working conditions in the nation that will next year have the eyes of the world focused upon it as the host of the 2022 men’s football World Cup.

His writings were unique, in that they were not research from a human rights or labour organisation, or from the few independent journalists in the country.

Instead, he wrote from the front line, detailing the experiences endured by many in a country where most people are foreigners and many of those from Africa and south Asia are the most vulnerable.

Under his pen name, Noah, he wrote about the life of being a security guard in the Msheireb district of Doha, a formerly rundown but charismatic area of the Qatari capital, which has been given a massive facelift and will house thousands of fans at the World Cup with five star hotels, world cuisine restaurants and cafes.

One of the pieces he wrote about was how a security guard was told to wait outside in the Qatari summer sun for five hours when a member of the ruling royal family visited. Anyone who has been in the Gulf in the summer knows what this would be like.

He also highlighted poor living conditions, striking workers in Qatar and the hardships faced by domestic workers. It was open dissent in a country where there is exceptionally little internal criticism.

Such honesty has cost Bidali his freedom.

Earlier this month he was arrested. He now faces a charge of offences “related to payments received by a foreign agent for the creation and distribution of disinformation”.

The seriousness of the charge has surprised some, drawing incredulity from others, especially the worrying mention of a “foreign agent” in a country which has just been in a diplomatic spat with its near neighbours for some years.

The risk to Bidali’s freedom is obviously grave. But his arrest and charge also presents problems for the Qatari government.

His words helped humanise an issue we read about a lot, giving voice to the everyday and almost mundane abuses which occur, making them far more real.

It also comes at a time of growing criticism that the promised labour reforms in Qatar, in readiness for 2022, are faltering. In such a context, Bidali’s arrest seems vindictive. If so, he will become a high-profile symbol of the struggle for labour rights in Qatar. And more and more people will get to know his name.

Yours,

David Harding

International editor