Gulf workers' living conditions 'unfit for cats and dogs'

The editor of a Middle East newspaper has said that labourers in the region are living in homes not even fit for animals.

Dr Mansoor Al-Jamri, editor-in-chief of Bahrain’s daily Alwasat newspaper, told a conference in Qatar that unskilled workers earning a living in Gulf states have to live in conditions “that cats and dogs would not accept”.

He warned that if these workers, who are mainly from the Indian subcontinent, continue to be treated as second-class citizens, then international bodies will directly intervene in the affairs of Gulf states.

Al-Jamri was speaking at a series of debates in Doha, organised by the BBC.