Ashud Ahmed
Ambassador of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the State of Qatar
Qatar is one of the countries that are handling the COVID 19 pandemic pragmatically and well-coordinated manner from the very beginning of the outbreak. The swift response of the Qatari leadership has proved effective and successful to contain the spread of the novel virus.
Qatar has again demonstrated its far-sighted leadership by taking right steps in right time for the health safety of all its residents without any discrimination.
All countries are affected by this pandemic in some way or others. This unique global challenge has compelled countries to close their national borders and made all of us to look into the basic of life. Qatar hosts many nationalities within its national borders. In the recent years, Qatar pioneered a number of legal reforms to promote and protect the rights of the expatriate workers.
Qatari leadership has again shown its pioneering role in promoting the interests of the migrant workers. Qatar Government has assured that the migrant workers, who are stranded in their home countries because of flight suspension, will be allowed to enter Qatar even their visas expire.
Qatar Government has also announced that all residents irrespective of their legal status in Qatar shall have access to health services. They have ensured supply of foods and medical facilities in the lockdown area and asked all companies to look after their workers.
Qatar Charity (QC) and the Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) are also helping the destitute workers and families with foods. Qatar Government has engaged the community members to create awareness among the workers. Awareness leaflets and videos are made in different languages including Bangla to easily communicate with different expatriate communities.
The Supreme Committee for Crisis Management has been playing a great role to disseminate information and directives, giving no scope for ambiguity in this crisis period. One stop contact points in the key Ministries like Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Administrative Developments, Labour and Social Affairs has made communication easy during this crisis period. All these initiatives during a pandemic speak out how organised Qatar deal with the crisis and how Qatar cares about its residents..
Around 400,000 Bangladeshi expatriates are living in Qatar. There are professionals, businessmen, salaried and non-salaried workers within our community. All of our community people in Qatar care about Qatar as much as they care about Bangladesh. Qatar Government has asked all companies to look after their workers. However, some segments of our community like self-employed people, small shop owners, small contracting companies, limousine or taxi drivers and other non-salaried workers are facing financial hardship because of economic inactivity created by the unprecedented situation.
Given this, Bangladesh community stands unitedly behind Qatar’s fight against the novel Coronavirus.
I would call upon every member of the Bangladesh community in Qatar to consider the crisis as the crisis of all and extend every possible support to combat the novel coronavirus. I would urge upon all of my compatriots to follow the directives of the Qatar Government word by word. Here lies all of our benefits and success.
As the Ambassador of Bangladesh to the State of Qatar, I feel proud and happy that Qatar Government has been providing excellent support to our community. I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for his able leadership that is tested many times in the past in handling a crisis.
