World Bulletin/News Desk

Qatari Foreign Ministry has confirmed the arrest of two British human rights activists who have been missing in Doha since August.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a Sunday statement that activists Krishna Upadhyaya and Ghimire Gundev are being investigated for "violating Qatari laws" after they were arrested on August 31.

The statement comes three days after British daily The Guardian reported that the two activists, who work for the Norway-based Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD), have been feared by their employer to have been detained in Qatar.

According to the report, Upadhyaya, 52, and Ghimire, 36, disappeared as of the morning of August 31, a few days after they arrived in Qatar to investigate the country's treatment of migrant workers, following condemning reports from human rights groups as the Gulf statelet gears up for hosting the 2022 World Cup.

For its part, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said that all procedures taken against the two activists "do not contradict with human rights principles which are upheld by the Qatari legislation."

It went on to say that representatives from the British embassy in Doha visited the two activists at their undisclosed detainment location.

GNRD's Chief Executive Evgenia Kondrakhina told the British newspaper that her organization holds the Qatari authorities responsible for the two activists' safety and asserted that the organization is "prepared to take all necessary legal action" in the event that the duo "are subjected to any kind of physical or psychological harm."