KATHMANDU, June 9: Three years after living with blockade, the State of Qatar has said that blockading countries lack seriousness to resolve the crisis.
Mohamed bin Abdel Rahman Al-Thani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar said that blockade of Qatar damaged the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
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“We hoped that in this period of global crisis, wisdom would prevail and that the challenges we faced would revive regional cooperation” but this did not happen. “The blockade mentality is stronger,” he said.
Thani said blockading countries have not been able to give valid reason for their action on Qatar. “To this day, we do not find clear reasons for imposing this blockade,” he said. “The relations linking the State of Qatar and the countries of the blockade in the period that preceded it were good and friendly.”
However, Qatari ministers also believe that they have overcome the consequences by now. Assistant Foreign Minister and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lolwah Al-Khater said “the crisis is a reality we live in” but “the State of Qatar has overcome its consequences on many levels.”
According to Khater, Qatar has made a progress in the abolition of the Kafala for the migrant workers. “We are completely abolishing the Kafala,” he said. “Migrants who want to change jobs and who are illegally refused by their employer can appeal to the labor claims office.”
Since June 5, 2017, Qatar has been under blockade by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt.
