The Gulf crisis, From humanitarian Perspective

 

by Fahad Kafood - Ambassador of Qatar to Canada 

During a very short time period, three Gulf States (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain) with Egypt decided to launch a diplomatic, economic and media war against a neighbouring country and a partner in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). As a result the GCC has been going through a hard turmoil like never before since its creation 36 years ago.

  The three countries also turned to some other countries far beyond the region and its geopolitical circumstances, pushing them to join the campaign of severing their relations with Qatar, using all tools of stick and carrot. These siege states have merely created new tension in the area open to all probabilities, and have placed extra burden on the diplomacy of the super powers, the thing which would disperse the international efforts to settle major and crucial issues in the world.

  We are wondering, does the Gulf region, and the Middle East in general, need a new crisis in addition to the eternal and recent crises that the international community has not yet been able to solve? The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has always been a model of stability, and its role was needed to preserve regional security and world peace, but the "siege states" had a different view. They wanted not only to abuse the stability of the region, but also to cause chaos that would disrupt the ties between the Gulf societies and create dissension among the peoples of the region, as well as to violate their basic rights as humans, citizens and residents in those countries.  

Cutting Family Ties

  Those who have known or lived in the Gulf region are very familiar with the demographic and social structure of the six GCC countries and they are undoubtedly aware of the serious consequences of these decisions, such as those taken by the siege states against the peoples of the region as a whole and not only against Qatar. Family ties in the Gulf countries are intertwined and tangled, as a family or tribe can be dispersed across more than one country.

Our ancestors and leaders who thought of creating the GCC wanted to preserve the cohesion of the Gulf countries and to encourage politicians to remain united and to help each other, whatever misunderstandings may arise here and there. But the siege states decided to cut these ties and to throw the citizens of the region in a status of confusion and tension.

  When I speak about the tangled and intertwined family ties in the Gulf, I am referring to mixed marriages between the citizens of the six countries, as the three siege states decided to expel all Qataris, without exception, and ordered their nationals to leave Qatar, this logically means that many families are at risk of being scattered, and this was unfortunately the case when children from mixed marriages were confronted with cases similar to “forced divorce". If these children have Qatari citizenship, they have to leave the three countries with only one parent, and if they have the nationality of the "siege states", they have to leave Qatar, deprived of their father or mother.

  The consequences were not limited to that extent, as the departure of any Gulf citizen from the country where he resides because of these measures means that he loses a job and a stable life; In addition, the mother or father deprived of her or his family will no longer be able to support the family, since the authorities of the "siege states" have decided to prohibit transfers of money from and to Qatar, as well as blocked postal services and other commercial transactions.

Because of the blockade’s decisions, hundreds of students were forced to drop out of school, although most of them were preparing for year-end exams or perhaps graduation, but they had to leave without any consideration for their circumstances. It should be noted that the Government of Qatar from the outset refused to react reciprocally or apply such inhuman treatment to the citizens of the siege states that reside or work in Qatar, but allowed them to remain there as they wished and to keep their jobs.

The same damage has hit Qatar's investors, such as those who own real estate or farms, especially in Saudi Arabia or the UAE. As a result, they were forced to leave and abandon their property without even being able to retrieve them, or take care of their livestock since they were forced to separate from it. In addition to tens or hundreds of foreign workers whose Qatari employers no longer have any means to renew the visas of residence in the siege states because of the ban imposed on them. Even the dead have not been spared from this "war" declared against Qatar, as several Qatari families have lost a relative in one of these countries but are totally incapacitated: as they were not able to repatriate the coffin of their deceased from the siege states, nor they were allowed to attend the funeral as Qataris have been banned and categorized as persona non grata.

  Even though Qatar appears to be tolerant and insists on a serious dialogue between the various parties, it will not accept harming its citizens or its sovereignty. In view of the obstinacy of the "siege states" to continue their wrongdoings, a committee was formed by Qatar to demand compensation, and Qatar Human Rights Commission has recruited an international law firm to deal with the files of the blockade’s victims, whether Qataris or residents in Qatar, as well as the citizens of the siege states that are not less affected.