The Qataris are known as the cowboys of the Middle East. I came to know about this while staying in Saudi Arabia with my family as royal guests in 1996. The Emir of Qatar was deposed in a coup by his son, and the ousted Emir sought refuge in Jeddah with his band of French paratroopers. The ex-Emir resided in the same hotel as us, overlooking the Red Sea and one of King Fahad’s palaces.
Qatar is an outlier in the Middle East. It is not that Qatar is different from Gulf states. Qatar is an Arab monarchy like the rest of the Gulf states. Like other mineral rich Gulf states, Qatar has the third largest gas reserves in the world. Qatar is also a key base for the US Military.
But in foreign policy and geopolitics, Qatar seeks to be exceptional and disruptive. Within the Arab world, Qatar has gained a reputation for its backing of the Muslim brotherhood and Hamas.
The return of the Taliban in Afghanistan is largely due to the deal brokered by Qatar between the Trump administration and the Taliban. The Biden administration followed through on this deal and rewarded Qatar with the status of a major non-NATO ally.
Sadly, Afghanistan is today reeling from an egregious deterioration of human rights, including a severe curtailing of women’s rights.
Qatar is also home to Al Jazeera. The Doha-based Al Jazeera television network has emerged as the most important pan-Arab media outlet. Al Jazeera also runs a great English news channel.
The irony about Al Jazeera is that it hardly covers human rights and corruption in Qatar itself. In contrast, the network’s peers like CNN International and BBC World News broadcast a significant amount of domestic coverage which is often critical of domestic leaders.
Qatar is rated “Not Free” by Freedom House. In its description of the political situation in Qatar, Freedom House notes that “Qatar’s hereditary emir holds all executive and legislative authority, and ultimately controls the judiciary as well. Political parties are not permitted, and the only elections are for an advisory municipal council. While Qatari citizens are among the wealthiest in the world, the vast majority of the population consists of noncitizens with no political rights, few civil liberties, and limited access to economic opportunity.”
Qatar and South Asia
Most of the migrant workers in Qatar are from South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. An estimated 6,500 migrants have died due to poor working conditions in Qatar since the tiny Gulf state won the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The FIFA World Cup is a vanity project for Qatar -- a white elephant scheme unsuitable for a country which never qualified for a FIFA World Cup until now. Other Arab states like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Algeria did qualify for the World Cup in the past, and would have been more suitable candidates due to their bigger geography and large number of cities.
Qatar’s labour minister recently visited Bangladesh. While the minister was visiting Dhaka, Qatar was in the process of deporting Bangladeshis who held protests over unpaid wages. The right to assembly of these protestors was violated.
The government of Bangladesh does not appear to pay much attention to human rights in the Middle East. But in the case of Qatar, Bangladeshi policy is proving to be counter-productive. Over a thousand Bangladeshis have died in Qatar while building stadiums for the World Cup.
Bangladesh should consider holding Qatar accountable under international law. The appropriate forum would be the Committee on Migrant Workers, which is authorized to receive inter-state communications regarding poor living conditions for migrant workers.
However, given that Qatar and many countries have not ratified the Convention on Migrant Workers, the inter-state communication procedure remains ineffective.
During the Saudi-led boycott of Qatar, Doha sued Riyadh and Abu Dhabi through an inter-state case at the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The case was eventually suspended after the Gulf countries reached an agreement to resume ties.
Qatar should not be allowed to meddle in South Asian affairs. South Asian states have long-standing constitutions which emphasize on human rights and political freedom. An absolute monarchy should not be allowed to arbitrarily interfere in the neighbourhood. Qatar should be accountable for its own human rights.
Umran Chowdhury works in the legal field.