Sheikha Mozah, wife of Qatar's former emir, returned to the spotlight this week when previously-confidential emails were released by the US State Department.
The emails reveal that while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state Cherie Blair – wife of former British prime minister...
Blog archive: Qatar
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3rd July 2015
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2nd July 2015A GNRD supporter at the UN Human Rights Council accused Norway's public prosecutor of racism In recent statements the Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD) has portrayed itself as an organisation struggling to "forge a genuine international will to combat terrorism" – in the face...
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6th September 2014Loai Mohammed Deeb: ran a university from his home The Scandinavian University, established in Norway in 2007 and closed three years later, boasted of having 175 professors and more than 300 lecturers, plus a wide range of courses stretching from engineering and economics to sharia and...
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4th September 2014Two British men have been reported missing after travelling to Qatar to investigate the treatment of Nepalese migrant workers there. The assumption is that the Qatari authorities did not like what they were doing, and arrested them. Migrant workers in Qatar, especially in the...
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24th February 2014Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. View of an alley with several tailoring businesses. Photo: Nadine Compton This is the sixth in a series of blog posts exploring employment problems in the Arab Gulf states. Part one: How it began Part two: The iniquities of kafala Part...
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23rd February 2014This is the fifth in a series of blog posts exploring employment problems in the Arab Gulf states. Part two: The iniquities of kafala Part four: Working outside the rules Part six: Jobs, politics and ethnocracy THE ARAB Gulf states have long been dependent on...
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19th February 2014For sale of return: A recruitment agent stands with a group of Ethiopian domestic workers as they wait for potential clients at an agency office in the Hawalli district of Kuwait. Women who leave employers and return to recruitment agencies – either as a result of their employer’s decision or...
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17th February 2014This is the second in a series of blog posts exploring employment problems in the Arab Gulf states. Part one: How it began Part two: The iniquities of kafala Part three: Female domestic workers Part four: Working outside the rules Part five: Jobs for citizens? Part six:...
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16th February 2014Employment systems in the Arab Gulf states are increasingly coming under an international spotlight. Following the decision to hold the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, concerns have been raised about the conditions of migrant construction workers preparing for the tournament – an issue that was...
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22nd January 2014When uprisings toppled the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya in 2011, other Arab regimes trembled. But not Qatar. Brimming with self-confidence, Qatar – perhaps alone among the Arab states – viewed the upheaval as an opportunity rather than cause for alarm. "Qatar's regional posture went into...
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11th November 2013Following an eight-day fact-finding visit to Qatar a UN investigator has called for an end to the restrictive sponsorship system for employing expatriate workers. François Crépeau, the UN’s special rapporteur on migrants’ rights, said Qatar should make it easier for migrants to change...
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25th June 2013The Emir of Qatar's abdication this morning (see text of his speech) is widely seen as a milestone – and rightly so. It breaks the long-standing Arab tradition of leaders who cling to power until the drop, or are forcibly removed from office. Sheikh Hamad came to power in 1995,...
