Saudi Gazette report

SAUD Al-Qahtani, adviser to Saudi Arabia’s Royal Court, said on Thursday that Doha’s move to revoke the citizenship of the leader of the Al-Murrah tribe and dozens of his relatives was the beginning of a wave of mass displacement in the crisis-hit Gulf state.

“The Qatari leadership has hammered the final nail in its own coffin,” Qahtani said on Twitter.

He added: “I feel deep sympathy and compassion for every Qatari citizen that is being turned into a puppet by the Qatari authorities since the beginning of the crisis,” referring to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt’s decision to cut diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar since June.

Qahtani said the crisis had provided a chance for Qatar to comfort its citizens.

He continued: “But Qatar opted for a policy of displacement and bullying of its own people.”

Qahtani stressed that Saudi Arabia “will always remain the natural home for all Arabs.”

The head of the Al-Murrah tribe in Qatar, Sheikh Talib Bin Lahom Bin Shuraim, told Al Arabiya on Wednesday that Doha revoked his citizenship along with 54 of his relatives.

Sheikh Talib said the actions of the Qatari authorities has not surprised him. He had recently met Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, accompanied by a number of Al-Murrah Sheikhs, and affirmed his support to Riyadh against the policies of the present Qatari leadership.

“The Qatari authorities have become a source of haven for terrorists and their sponsors, and the subject of discussion is much bigger than nationality. It is a big attack on Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states,” he told Al Arabiya.

Human rights bodies

condemn Doha move

The Emirates Human Rights Association (EHRA) has condemned the revocation of citizenship of Sheikh Talib and others. “It is a step that violates all their legal rights, the principles of human rights and exposes them to displacement,” the EHRA said in a statement carried by Saudi Press Agency.

Muhammad Salem Al Ka’abi, chairman of EHRA, said: “This is an unprecedented international step. These Qatari citizens have not been subjected to any trials, but their citizenship has been suddenly revoked. They have become stateless and are subject to full deprivation of citizenship rights, from healthcare, housing, education, work, freedom of movement and others.”

Similarly, the Manama Center for Human Rights said the move was a form of collective punishment against the history of systematic hierarchy in the country.

The Manama Center also said the action violates international laws and standards of human rights, “especially as the decision taken by the Qatari government has been issued without any legal justifications.”

A statement added: “We call on all humanitarian institutions and organizations inside and outside the State of Qatar to carry out their role and follow up on this situation, especially the Qatar Foundation, which has not paid attention to this violation and has recently implemented Qatari politics and abandoned the defense of human rights principles.”

The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) expressed astonishment at the Qatari move.

“The measures violate all human rights principles and expose the group to displacement in an unprecedented step the like of which the world has not seen, except what the same Qatari government did in 2005 when it caused the displacement of over 6,000 of its citizens from Aal Ghufran tribe by withdrawing their citizenship without any justification or reason,” a NSHR statement said.

The NSHR expressed regret and denounced the “blind indiscriminate collective punishment,” the statement said.