Bahrain Mirror: Qatar's National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) has documented 646 violations of the rights to family reunion committed by the blockading countries against Qatar residents since June 5 last year until May 23 this year.

The Gulf Times website reported that the Committee recorded 346 violations by Saudi Arabia, 82 by the UAE and 218 by Bahrain, according to the Fifth General Report - Continuation of human rights violations - A year of the blockade imposed on Qatar.

It also documented 37 cases of violation of the citizen's right to receive health treatment in the blockading countries.

The Committee noted that there were 8,254 Saudis, 2,349 Bahrainis and 784 Emiratis residing in Qatar, all of whom were threatened by their governments. "They were also denied the right of movement, residence and ownership. The Committee also documented 1053 Saudi employees, 830 Bahrainis and 71 UAE nationals working in the country, adding that their governments called for their immediate departure."

The Committee further stated that the measures taken by the three countries since June 5 last year have made it difficult for normal family union among the joint GCC families as their citizens who have relations or married to Qataris were not allowed to join them or receive them and similarly Qataris were denied access by these countries to visit or join their families there.

The cases documented by NHRC in this regard included the case of a Qatari Married to a Bahraini citizen (S A) and has three children. Since the start of the blockade on Qatar, the father's visits to his sons have ceased as well as all ways of communicating with him. She added that she has found it difficult to renew her children's travel documents after the closure of the Bahraini embassy in Qatar. Furthermore, she has been banned from entering Bahrain by the Bahraini authorities that hinders her children from continuing their education as well as exposed them to psychological effects due to depriving them of their father.

Arabic Version