Qatar permitted a rare protest for workers' rights on Saturday at a government-approved rally of about 300 activists demanding action to combat climate change. Marchers, mostly foreigners attending the November 26-December 7 talks among 200 nations on slowing global warming, chanted "Arab leaders, time to lead" and "climate action now" as they marched along the waterfront past skyscrapers in central Doha.

One group at the rally called for greater freedoms for migrant workers, who make up about 94 percent of the workforce in Qatar, which is expecting a construction boom ahead of the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament it is to host. Poor working conditions are common across the Gulf, where impoverished men and women from South Asia work on construction sites, oil projects and as domestic help.

"Migrant workers ... have no rights, no voice right here in Qatar," said Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, at the march. "More workers will die building the stadiums than players will play on the field," she said of the World Cup.

Non-Qataris are banned by law from joining a labour union, but Burrow said after meeting Acting Minister of Labour Nasser Abdullah al-Hemedi: "Qatar's labour minister said that if we establish a union, he will personally ensure that any workers who join it are not punished. We will test him on that."

Copyright Reuters, 2012