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Amnesty International has condemned the blockade measures against Qatar taken by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, which led to splitting up of families and destroying of people’s livelihoods and education, saying these countries are playing with the lives of thousands of Gulf residents. Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Global Issues Program James Lynch said: “For potentially thousands of people across the Gulf, the effect of the steps imposed in the wake of the political dispute is suffering, heartbreak and fear.” While Amnesty International takes no view on the political dispute itself, the organisation is seriously concerned about the impact of some of these steps on the rights to family life and education. Arbitrarily splitting up families as part of immigration policies violates the right to family life, according to Amnesty International. Amnesty has documented several cases of people cut off from parents, children and spouses:
CASE ONE: A Qatari man, who has lived in the UAE with his family for more than 10 years, was refused entry and sent back to Qatar as he tried to return home to Dubai from Doha, just after the measures were announced on June 5. His wife is an Emirati national and is therefore forbidden from travelling to Qatar, while his children are Qatari nationals and so are required to leave the UAE. He is now separated from his family and does not know when he will see them again. He described to Amnesty International how his wife had pleaded with the duty officer to see her husband one last time."The officer said, no way just go back," he said. He told Amnesty International that he fears his employers in the UAE will dismiss him from his job since he cannot return and also because of his nationality.
CASE TWO: A Saudi man, who lives in Doha with his Qatari wife, told Amnesty International that he is unable to visit his mother, who is seriously ill in hospital in Saudi Arabia, because if he does he would not be able to return to Qatar to be with his wife and children."If I go home, I can't see my wife. I stay here, I can't see my mom," he said.
CASE THREE: A newly-wed Qatari woman told Amnesty representatives that she had been in the process of moving to Bahrain to live with her husband, a Bahraini national, when the measures came into force."I was so happy to marry last year before the ban. I used to go there every weekend, to see my husband, my family, my house. When they did this, how could they not think of the people?" she asked.
QATARI STUDENTS: Amnesty International also interviewed several Qatari students concerned about the future of their education in the UAE and Bahrain. One student said all her classes in the UAE for the rest of the year had been cancelled with immediate effect.
MIGRANT WORKERS: There are concerns that migrant workers employed by Qatari nationals to look after their properties in Saudi Arabia may find themselves stranded, unable to return to Qatar where they have residence permits and becoming undocumented in the process, at the risk of exploitation or arrest and deportation, the Amnesty said. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states must protect any workers employed by Qatari nationals, including by facilitating the safe return of those who wish to return to their home countries or assisting those who wish to return to Qatar, it added.
