2011 Omani protests

The 2011 Omani protests (also called the Omani Spring) were a series of protests in Oman that occurred as part of the revolutionary wave popularly known as the "Arab Spring".

The protesters demanded salary increases, lower living costs, the creation of more jobs and a reduction in corruption. Protests in Sohar, Oman's fifth-largest city, centered on the Globe Roundabout. One of the responses of the then Sultan Qaboos bin Said was the dismissal of a third of the governing cabinet.

Protesters demanded salary increases and lower costs of living. On 20 February 2011, protesters welcomed a move by the government to increase the minimum wage. The wage increase targeted Omani workers in the private sector. Public sector Omani employees have received wage increases in the past, but the private sector was so far overlooked. The Government of Oman raised minimum wages for an estimated 150,000 private sector employees to $520 from $364 a month. As protests continued in Sohar the demands were still jobs and political reforms. The protesters also want more jobs, freedom of expression, less government control over the media, political reforms, better living conditions, an abolition of taxes and the trial of all ministers.

Protesters in Muscat also demanded cabinet ministers not serve more than four years. In several other protests, Omanis furthered their demands by calling for a reduction of foreign workers in order to provide more jobs for Omani citizens by private companies.

About 200 protesters marched on 17 January demanding salary increases and lower costs of living. The protest surprised international observers, who have viewed Oman as a "politically stable and sleepy country." Renewed protests termed as the Green March, occurred on 18 February, inspired by the serious unrest in fellow Persian Gulf state Bahrain. 350 people took part in the march, demanding an end to corruption and better distribution of oil revenue. The protesters also carried signs with slogans of support for the Sultan. Police did not intervene in the gathering, and later after the protest took place, Sayyid Ali bin Hamoud bin Ali Al Busaidi, minister of the Diwan of Royal Court, announced that he had handed over the petition calling for reforms submitted by those who participated in the Green March to Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

On 1 March, about 50 protesters held a sit-in as well outside the Consultative Assembly to demand political reform and an end to corruption. The group later grew to over 400 people. Protesters also continued to demand the Consultative Assembly be turned into a "real parliament." The protests were reported to be "peaceful, well-organised and very disciplined." Tents had been set up with separate accommodations for men and women. Placards with protest slogans had also been translated into English, French and German for the international media.

On 2 April, dozens of protesters staged a sit-in in Muscat, outside the chief prosecutor's office, to demand probes into alleged state abuses after clashes with security forces a day earlier.

On 26 February, nearly 500 protesters gathered around a shopping mall in the industrial city of Sohar, 230 kilometres from the capital Muscat. The protesters stopped traffic and shoppers around the mall premises. The shops in the area including the mall remained closed on 27 February as well.