On the 10th of April, more than 80 former workers of the BerAli Manghystau Company spent a night in front of the Energy Ministry's building in Astana, demanding jobs at the OzenMunaiGaz company, a subsidiary of the oil-rich nation's KazMunaiGaz energy giant.

The workers said they lost their jobs after their company had lost a tender for oil work in the energy-rich western region of Manghystau recently.

After the demonstrators refused to leave the plaza outside the Energy Ministry on the second day of their sit-in, masked police in black fatigues encircled the area and a representative from the prosecutor’s office arrived to order those present to disperse or face the consequences of breaking the law on public assemblies. Police eventually closed in on the demonstrators.

At least 20 protestors were detained