Global Voices » Luxembourg

Qatar: Expats outraged by plans to scrap visa-on-arrival policy

Shabina Khatri — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:15:10 +0000

Starting May 1, visitors from dozens of countries must apply for visas before traveling to Qatar instead of obtaining them at the airport (Photo by Jamie Sanford)

Rumors are swirling following a local news report that Qatar has made plans to scrap its visa-on-arrival policy for dozens of nations.

According to the Gulf Times, the change, to take effect May 1, will require nationals of 33 European, Western and Asian countries to obtain visas before arriving in Qatar by contacting the Qatari embassies in their home countries.

The United States, British and French embassies in Doha have confirmed that their nations are among those affected by the change, but officials from other countries said they are still making inquiries.

The news was greeted with dismay by many Doha residents on Twitter.

Some bloggers here said they suspected that the change was spurred on by “reciprocity” - a tit for tat response to countries that require Qatari nationals to apply for visas before arrival.

Marjorie in Qatar said:

This is part of Qatar's new “reciprocity” kick. A few months ago they switched to a reciprocity system for driver's licenses: American licenses can't be automatically converted to Qatari ones, because the US doesn't automatically convert Qatari licenses.

Others mused that it was Qatar's way of securing its borders following the assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in January. He is suspected to have been killed by men holding falsified European and British passports. Dubai blames Israel's national intelligence agency Mossad for the slaying.

On Twitter, ibnkakfa said:

Linked to Mossad's Dubai murder?

On the popular online forum Qatar Living, where a post about the policy change generated more than 100 comments,Bleu said:

Seriously, this could be a temporary measure after what happened in Dubai… It could be anything.

genesis added:

i agree with bleu in this being a national security measure. Again, Qatar is frequently visited by Iranian, syrian & Hamas officials.

canarybird theorized a profit motive:

I don't think that this is an issue of how many expatriates live and work here, but it will certainly affect the whole economy and many expat wives who don't have visas make short term visa runs, and many on short business trips to. It will certainly make a whole in the money making business of visa runs.

Whatever the reason, most agree that the additional paperwork required to visit Qatar and the lack of Qatari embassies in many nations are likely to hurt the country's efforts to boost tourism.

QL commentator fubar said:

The Tourism Authority must be overjoyed by this news.
If you were a multinational company arranging a conference for 1000 high spending delegates from Western countries, like the recent CITES conference, or a similar UN conference, would you come to Qatar, where almost everyone will need to apply for a visa before travelling, or go to Dubai?

Others said they thought the move brought fairness to the system.

UkEngQatar said:

Qatari Nationals have to have a visa beforehand before visiting Britain. So if that is the case then what Qatar has done is fair. We Brits and other European and US nationals will just have to get used to it.

ace.auteur said:

Fair deal! Getting a US/UK visa is a nightmare for many. Why should it be easy for the “33″? By any means it is still going to be a whole lot simpler than standard US/UK visa processes. Reciprocity is not just fair but the right thing to do.

Still, those living far from family and friends worry that the change will make it even more difficult to keep in touch.

Mandilulur said:

I know half a dozen Brits who are working for international companies here in the Gulf (based in Qatar) with business visas. Their wives make visa runs to Bahrain monthly. Evidently no more. They will leave. Are these the kinds of ex-pats you want to see gone? The really talented ex-pats will be able to find a job anywhere! … Sometimes I feel like a lobster in a pot - when will the discomfort of decisions such as these outweigh my love for Qatar? I can tell you one thing - it certainly affects what I tell prospective professionals thinking of coming to Doha.

Europe: Entropa

Veronica Khokhlova — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:06:39 +0000

Belatedly, links to some posts on Entropa: Margarete of The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia believes “it should be taken down”; Kosmopolito thinks that “the debate around the project is also part of the installation”; BBC's Mark Mardell writes that “the fact that it is a hoax does not mean that the art itself is bad”; Blue, Black and White Alert doesn't think Entropa is “that incendiary”; A Fistful of Euros considers Entropa “an ugly but really funny piece of work.”

Russia, EU: Views on the Election

Veronica Khokhlova — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:46:06 +0000

A discussion of the Russian election and certain European politicians' reactions to it - at the Economist's Certain Ideas of Europe.

DRC, Belgium: 25th Anniversary of UDPS

Alice Backer — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 04:42:41 +0000

Le Renouveau Congolais posts pictures [fr] of UDPS Belux's (Belgium-Luxemburg branch) celebration of the party's 25th Anniversary. UDPS is the main DRC opposition party.

Thursday World Blog Roundup

Rebecca MacKinnon — Thu, 12 May 2005 22:09:54 +0000

Africa:
Picture via Sotho, drawn by 13-year old McGlen of Johannesburg, South Africa. He wants to be a veterinarian. Courtesy Creative Connections.

Thinkers Room says it shouldn't be this hard.

Afromusing thinks Kenya needs a “hygrid.”

Special Blog Coverage: Iranian Presidential elections:
Mr. Behi thinks U.S. pressure on Iran over nuclear weapons at this moment will make an illiberal election outcome more likely. He's no big Rafsanjani fan, either.

Iranian Prospect also discusses the relationship between the elections and the nuclear issue. He has another post about Mojtaba Saminejad, a jailed Iranian blogger, a jailed researcher, and how this all ties in with election politics.

Brooding Persian has a colorful account of the candiates who have registered so far, including “a 72 year old milkman from a principality far from Tehran who made an impression on the reporters with his open zipper during the registrations and he appears quite charming as he frankly admitted to having no place to sleep over the night at in Tehran.” He then complains about foreign analyists who comment on Iranian politics, claiming to know what “Iranians want.” He broods: “No two Iranians I know can ever agree on much of anything. “

New Blog alert: OpenDemocracy has a new Iran-focused group blog, Iranscan. The authors include bloggers from inside and outside Iran.

It would be interesting to know what bloggers in Iran think of this post on “Regime Change Iran.”

Iraq:
Iraq The Model links to pictures and info from an Arabic-language Iraqi blog about artefacts confiscated by a Syrian officer who was attempting to smuggle them out of Iraq.
Omar also links to this blog post about the Baghdad softball team.

Frustrated with Iraq's unreliable phone network which makes it hard to blog regularly, Ibn Alrafidain >asks some tough questions about the way his fellow countrymen approach democracy.

A Free Iraqi recounts his personal experience with citizen journalism and his reflections on how the international media covers the Iraq story and why. Check out the comments thread on that post, too.

Khalid of “Tell Me A Secret”, who opposes the U.S. presence, returned home today to find a car bomb had exploded about 100 meters from his house just a couple of hours before.

Hammorabi blames Syria for supporting terrorism in Iraq.

Elsewhere in the Middle East:
Israeli bloggers celebrate independence day, via “Thoughts from a Rabbi.”

Chan'ad Bahraini tackles the subject of torture.
Chan'ad also points out that Bahrainonline.org and others were mentioned on the front page of the Wall Street Journal this week.

Kuwaiti Online is upset upon discovering more acqaintances who beat their household employees - who come from other countries and apparently are viewed as having no rights.

The Beirut Spring has a post on the role of Lebanese Christians in the new political context.

Eurasia:
Democracy Guy thinks that Bush missed an opportunity to support Armenian democracy while in Georgia.

Central Asia:
Registan.net on different approaches to upcoming elections in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

East Asia:
ESWN recounts a controversy over journalistic ethics in China.

Mask of China: Dalian Edition is concerned about an official news blackout on a local ferry disaster and ponders the implications thereof.

Fons Tuinstra of the China Herald is bemused that the media took the People's Daily revaluation story as gospel, when he smelled a rat all along.

Danwei accuses the International Herald Tribute of editorial sloppiness to rival the People's Daily.

Kevin Wen wonders about Google's new presence in China.

Fons in Shanghai says its only a meeting room.

Isaac Mao is able to use Google Web Accelerator from his office to access blocked websites.

Dottocomu on the latest special pocket for cellphones, while Japundit reports on the latest perversion (do not click on this if you are underage or a sensitive person).

South Asia:
3rd World View has a sad post on the face of Bangladesh.

Europe:
Jukka recounts a bewildering meeting with beauty queens.

Central Budapest says there will be a march against racism on Sunday.