2011 Omani protests

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.