The Chairman of Doha International Centre for Interfaith Dialogue (DICID), Dr Ibrahim bin Saleh al-Nuaimi, has praised the resilience of the residents of Qatar in the face of the unjust siege imposed on Qatar by the Saudi-led quartet. On June 5, 2017, an air, sea and land blockade was imposed on Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt.
In his opening speech on Tuesday at the ninth roundtable, which was held under the title: “State of Qatar: Citizens and Expatriates Defy the Blockade”, al-Nuaimi said the residents of the country stood hand in hand with Qatari citizens to face the challenges arising out of the siege crisis.
Al-Nuaimi said the centre chose this title for the ninth roundtable as it represents a high priority and a real challenge for Qatari society.
He added this edition of the roundtable complements the previous one which was titled “Communities under the Siege: Solidarity and Challenges”, which discussed challenges arising from the siege crisis and its impact on communities and ways to deal with it.
He said the siege crisis is one of the most important issues facing the residents of Qatar, citizens and expatriates.
Al-Nuaimi said although the siege caused shock and anxiety at first, it revealed the authenticity of Qatari citizens and the honourable stance of residents who have shown the utmost discipline, in view of the exceptional circumstances. He said residents have stood in solidarity with the citizens and challenged this unjust siege, defending the sovereignty, independence, rights and resources of the country.
He added that the crisis was a blessing in disguise, as it created new opportunities for both citizens and residents and acted as a catalyst.
Al-Nuaimi said the roundtable comes in time for the International Day for Tolerance which is annually held on November 16, an initiative to remember the values of coexistence, harmony and the building of world peace.
In his address at the opening session, Archbishop Makarios of Qatar highlighted the resistance of the citizens and residents to the unjust siege, which he asserted has failed to achieve its objectives. He said the siege victims are innocent people who have nothing to do with the crisis.
The 9th roundtable among local communities focused on two main topics: ‘Challenges of the Blockade and Its Consequences’, and ‘Citizens and Expatriates Facing the Siege Together’.
Representatives of a number of stakeholders from Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Qatar University, Hassad Food Company and the Haj and Umrah campaigns of Qatar addressed the two topics.
The first topic addressed the challenges of the siege and its consequences on citizens and expatriates, including the politicisation of Haj and Umrah, the harassment of citizens and residents and obstacles placed by the Saudi authorities to prevent them from performing the religious rituals.
It also discussed the difficulty faced by some communities in travelling to their countries and the to the siege countries.
The roundtable participants also noted the effective measures taken by Qatar to open maritime and air routes with friendly countries to secure the basic needs at the beginning of the crisis. They also discussed the negative effects of the continued discourse of hatred and systematic incitement by the siege countries, religious discrimination and their use of religious scholars in this regard, as well as their threat to punish those who sympathise with Qatar.
The participants pointed out that since the beginning of the crisis, Qatar has adopted a rational stance by calling for dialogue to resolve differences, and has taken many measures through specialised international bodies and organisations to ensure its interests and the rights of its people.
They also highlighted the withdrawal of the siege countries’ companies from Qatar under pressure from the authorities of their countries, which had a great impact on the workers in these companies and led a number of state agencies to provide them with job opportunities in the local market. They stressed that this withdrawal had little impact, and only encouraged Qatari youth to invest and become more entrepreneurs in specialised, diversified, small and medium-sized enterprises.
The second topic tackled ways to meet the challenges of the siege and invest all energies in the future, in terms of participating in launching of factories and local projects to provide self-sufficiency, in addition to increasing foreign investment, legal prosecution of the siege countries, request of compensation for those affected, issuance of Qatari laws on permanent residency for residents and the promulgation of the law on political asylum.
It reviewed Qatar’s efforts to increase production, promote the national products, increase self-sufficiency, strengthen the economy, attract foreign investments and facilitate it through the enactment of new laws. This forced existing companies in the siege countries, which had had branches in Doha, to transfer their headquarters to Qatar.
The session tackled the legal aspect of the crisis and the measures taken by Qatar to compensate the victims and to prosecute perpetrators of the violations resulting from the siege, such as the right to education, health, freedom of movement, property, family reunification and the exercise of religious rites.
In this regard, it also addressed some of the laws issued by Qatar recently, including the laws of asylum and permanent residence.
Director of the Human Rights Department at the Ministry of the Interior Brigadier Abdullah Saqr al-Muhannadi said that Qatar has abolished the sponsorship law in exchange for a new contractual relationship between the employer and the job seeker. It has also enacted laws that promote human rights.
Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bisera Turkovic praised Qatar’s rational positions and wise handling of the siege imposed on it, adding that this view is shared by all the heads and representatives of diplomatic missions to the State she had met with.
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