The Qatari citizen starts to look for legal means to protect his rights when the administration refuses to fulfil his needs. When he reads the laws he finds that most of the articles are very clear, to the point that he can identify those that serve his needs and get his rights from the responsible person who had refused to help him.
He may meet the responsible government officer to discuss his concerns, but at the end of the day, he simply says: “These instructions are from the top.”
However, when the citizen tries to relate this response to the laws, he finds no relation whatsoever.
While pacing outside the office of the responsible official, he may, by chance, meet an employee he knows. After an exchange of greetings, the employee would ask him why he had come there.
After the situation was explained to him, the employee would take the citizen’s papers and get them approved, even though this was initially refused on the pretext that that was the instruction from the top.
Another citizen may search for a job for his daughter who is a fresh graduate, but all doors would be closed. One employer would say that his company was overstaffed, another would respond that there were no openings and a third one would promise to contact him later but never do so.
This person is shocked to know that the doors that were closed in his face are wide open for expatriates. In the end, he asks an expatriate acquaintance to mediate and get his daughter a job. There are many examples of this but not enough space to mention them.
The response to the needs of a citizen depends on how well he is connected. You will find him befriending port workers, gas station attendants, electricians and market workers, even for a short while.
Qataris feeling alienated in their own homeland is a serious violation to the country’s constitution. This will harm social cohesion, which is a serious issue.
Humiliating situations make the citizen hate himself for giving expats higher value. I do not mean to offend expatriates, who are a good resource in our community.
Expatriates work in Qatar because our society needs their services.
I want to focus in this article on the Qatari government official who puts obstacles between himself and his brothers. He delays people’s work by haphazardly interpreting the law.
For years we have been hearing that the citizen is the real treasure of this country and that improving his life is the main goal of the government.
In reality this is not true. The citizens feel that they have rights but are unable to get them without the mediation of expats. The strength of any state is represented by its resources, capabilities and potential.
Each citizen should feel that he is an important contributor to the state, not just an employee who earns his living without any sense of belonging or loyalty.
This is what makes developed countries unique, which is dedication to work derived from trust in their public system. They come together for their homeland, putting aside differences of opinion and belief.
The Qatari citizen has become an alien in his own homeland. He does not have any option but to submit to this situation and look for an expat to mediate for him and get his work done.
Maybe such actions are not deliberate, but they have a destructive effect. The Qatari government should work to get the citizen his rights, which will stabilise Qatari society.
It is unfortunate that the citizen feels alienated in his own country, among his own relatives. Alienation in one’s homeland tastes bitter. Will this bitterness last long?
