Oman Protests

Oman Protests

After several protests and reactions from the population of Oman against its government, the citizens are still on the streets to fight for better living conditions. Their requests include better salaries, a new constitution, punishment for officials who in some way contributed to the deaths of other demonstrators, a real freedom of expression and serious restrictions on government corruption.

Even though the sultan demanded the hiring of 50,000 people and the paying of a stipend for those who are out of work, the opposition continues their demonstrations at the port city of Sohar on Monday. Sources say that the demonstrators blocked routes leading to the port and industrial zone, forcing workers from those areas to leave work.

As the Straight of Hormuz goes along the Omani Coast, most of all the world’s oil shipping has to pass by that region. Even though Oman itself isn’t a great oil producer, the country is important for the transportation of the product.

During the Monday protests, committees were organized in order to arrange the protection of buildings and control traffic. On the other side, reports on the weekend protests say that there were attacks on property. Also during the weekend, 11 people were injured and one died. The result of this was that the sultan Qaboos bin Said decided to hire the 50,000 people.

After this episode, in the subsequent demonstrations, witnesses said that they didn’t see any sort of confrontation between security officials and protesters. They also said that both sides kept their distance. After receiving promises that their written demands would be sent to the Sultan, 15 young activists left their letters with officials.