By YASIN ABU TAQIU
DOHA: There is a group of African expatriates who did not go on vacation this summer fearing they will contract the deadly Ebola virus that has plagued their countries and that they would be barred from returning to Qatar.
One Nigerian resident who preferred anonymity said he put off his vacation plans because of fears that any time authorities here may stop all flights to and from his country while he was there on vacation.
“Very few Ebola cases have been reported in Nigeria but people here (Qatar) think the whole country and its people are suffering from the disease,” he said.
“If I go on vacation and come back safely, people in my office would avoid me and it’s this stigmatisation that I don’t want.”
O J Miller, a Nigerian community leader in Doha, said there was fear among most Nigerian expatriates, most of them thinking that once they went home they would not be able to come back.
“But no one has yet been stopped from coming back and all flights to Nigerian cities from Doha are operating without any disruptions,” he said.
He said the Nigerian government was making efforts and screening travellers before they left the country to ensure no one carried the virus.
The virus, which can kill more than 90 percent of those it affects, has claimed over 2,400 lives in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Among them, only Nigeria has a large community in Qatar.
According to Miller, there are about 7,000 Nigerians living and working in Doha, making them one of the largest African communities in the country.
The Qatar government announced last week that it had stopped issuing visas to the countries hit by Ebola.
Qatar Airways recently installed devices at Hamad International Airport to monitor body temperatures using heat sensors to detect a passenger with mild fever and identify any one who might be infected.
Similar cameras were successfully used during the global outbreak of H1N1 virus. Some regional airlines like Emirates were reported to have suspended flights to the countries hit by Ebola and Saudi Arabia announced that it was restricting the entry of pilgrims from these countries. And it was not only Africans from the Ebola-hit countries that panicked over going home on vacation.
A Kenyan expatriate working at Hamad International Airport who preferred to be identified as only Edward said he had gone on vacation but was always afraid that a case could be detected any time in Kenya, his country could be blacklisted and he might have problems returning to Doha. “I work at the airport and I know how strict authorities here are. I have seen them checking frequently other nationalities from the Ebola-hit countries,” he said.
“Throughout my three-week vacation I was always listening to the radio and ready to cancel my vacation and immediately return to Doha if a single case of Ebola was announced to have been found in Kenya. Luckily, no case has been reported so far.”
Many African countries, including South Africa and Kenya, have turned away people arriving from Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.The Peninsula
