Qatar bans its citizens, residents

The Qatari government has banned its citizens and residents from leaving the country.

Khaleej Times has learnt that the drastic measures by the Qatari government were rolled out to face the deteriorating economic and social situation.

All leaves prior to the Eid Al Fitr holidays had been cancelled for residents, especially for those working in the public sector, including hospitals.

The ban has later been extended to cover several other sectors. The Qatari actions came in anticipation of the measures that might be taken by the Arab nations after the deadline given to Qatar expired.

Earlier, Reuters news agency reported that expatriates working for Qatar Petroleum and other organisations complained that their employers had cancelled their holidays and barred them from leaving Qatar.

A Qatari official said some leaves had been cancelled in "essential government sectors" to keep staff on hand as authorities made plans to cope with the crisis, but did not mention travel restrictions on foreigners.

Some analysts said the pressure on Qatar is intense, which has been noticed during the past 10 days. They expected that Qatar will not be able to cope with the situation if the present situation continues.

Analysts said the measures taken by Qatar over the past 10 days have been of no avail. The Qatari foreign minister's travel to seven countries seeking help has not yielded any results.

The strict domestic security measures have bothered Qatari citizens since there are non-Qatari forces patrolling the tiny emirate and guarding the critical buildings. There are checkpoints everywhere.

Qatari economy has been bearing the brunt of the isolation. Many in the street are talking about heavy losses the small and medium enterprises are incurring.

Qatar is trying to solve its economic problems by striking deals with international companies as it leased out some of the planes of Qatar Airways to British Airways after a labour strike. This could unleash a wave of anger among the British labour unions. It is an unprofitable deal for Qataris as well, but the move aims to cut down on the mounting losses.

Source: Khaleej Times