CONTENTS

 WHAT WAS THE DIPLOMATIC CRISIS

 HOW DID THE DIPLOMATIC CRISIS HAPPEN?
 BLOCADES DEMANDS
 THE PRBLEMS THAT COME WITH THE BLOCADE
 THE SOLUTION
 THE ECONOMIC DAMAGE THE BLOCADE CAUSED
 AN EXAMPLES OF A FAMILY SUFFERING DURING THE
DIPLOMATIC CRISIS
 POSITIVE EFFECTS OF THE BLOCKADE

A FUN REPRESENTATION BY A NEWS LETTER ON

THE QATAR BLOCADE CRISIS

 WHAT WAS THE DIPLOMATIC CRISIS?

The Qatar diplomatic crisis was a diplomatic incident that
began on 5 June 2017 when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic
relations with Qatar and banned Qatar-registered planes and
ships from utilizing their airspace and sea routes, along with
Saudi Arabia blocking Qatar’s only land crossing. They were
later joined by Jordan and were supported by the
Maldives, Mauritania, Senegal, Djibouti, the Comoros, and
the Tobruk-based government in Libya.

 HOW DID IT HAPPEN?

The Saudi-led coalition cited Qatar's alleged support for
terrorism as the main reason for their actions, alleging that
Qatar had violated a 2014 agreement with the members of
the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), of which Qatar is a
member. Saudi Arabia and other countries have criticized Al
Jazeera and Qatar's relations with Iran. Qatar acknowledged
that it had provided assistance to some Islamist groups (such
as the Muslim Brotherhood), but denied aiding militant
groups linked to al-Qaeda or the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL). Qatar also claimed that it had assisted the
United States in the War on Terror and the ongoing military
intervention against ISIL.

 THE DEMANDS THAT CAME WITH THE BLOCADE.

Initial supply disruptions were minimized by additional
imports from Iran and Turkey, and Qatar did not agree to any
of the Saudi-led coalition's demands. The demands included
 reducing diplomatic relations with Iran, stopping military
coordination with Turkey, and closing Al-Jazeera.
 THE PROBLEMS THAT CAME WITH THE BLOCADE
The blockade has included several economic dimensions
aimed at coercing the State of Qatar. The blockading
countries blocked all food, pharmaceutical, industrial, and
other imports from entering the State of Qatar.
 THE SOLUTION
But thanks to wise leadership, the state has been able to
ensure that it still meets the various needs of the Qatari people
by shoring up the local market and encouraging more
individuals and companies to expand their businesses or start
new projects that can help Qatar achieve self-sufficiency. As
well, Qatar opened its commerce to new international markets
to offset the gap in products from blockading countries and
moved to strengthen bilateral relations with other countries.

 THE ECONOMICAL DAMAGE

The economic damage was not merely confined to inside the

State of Qatar, but also included the trade and investments of
Qataris both with and within the blockading countries. As a
result of the closure of all border terminals, the prevention of
Qataris from entering these countries, and the directives
issued by these countries to prevent any dealing with Qataris
and keep them from withdrawing their funds or disposing of
their investments, hundreds of traders and property owners
suffered great financial losses (Al Jazeera Media, 2017). This
 itself constitutes a flagrant violation of universal and Arab
rights conventions that affirm respect for economic, political,
and human rights.
 THE IMPACT OF THE BLOCKADE ON FAMILIES IN
QATAR

 SOME EXAMPLES OF A FAMILY SUFFERING

DURING THE DIPLOMATIC CRISIS
Um Jassem, a Qatari woman married to a Bahraini man, has
faced difficulty visiting her husband’s family as a result of her
concerns about the dire consequences of such travel. The most
prominent being that her husband and children may not be
allowed to return to Qatar along with her fear that she would
end up living without them. She said: “We used to visit each
other two to four times a month. Now we can’t, which has
affected me along with the entire family as being unable to
see them is a big problem for us. We are afraid to go. If we
went, they could detain us and we may not be able to return. If
my husband and children went, they may not be able to come
back to Qatar, which would be a disaster because I can’t live
without them.” The above accounts of the very dire situations
for these families demonstrate some of the consequences of
the blockade, which has led to the separation of families and
prevented them from easily visiting their family members.
This was the result of the measures taken by the blockading
countries with regards to the freedom of movement and
presence of Qataris within their territories. The length of
travel, the procedures imposed at airports by the blockading
countries, the deliberate complications as well as the
increased cost of such trips has contributed to the separation
of families and harmed them in numerous ways
Many Gulf families were affected by the arbitrary measures
taken by the blockading countries to restrict travel and other
freedoms. “I used to go to Bahrain every Thursday and come
back every Saturday night or sometimes Sunday morning.
Now, I can’t because the cost of the trip has increased
threefold and the trip now takes five hours each way,” said
Abu Abdullah, a Bahraini husband and resident of Qatar in
reference to the difficulty of seeing his family (e.g. his son
and wife) in Bahrain. A Qatari woman married to an Emirati
said that the measures applied by the blockading countries led
to the separation of her family members and forced the family
to live apart for more than five months. The absence of their
father has had a negative impact on her children as his long
absence caused them to develop anxiety. She said: “They
were strongly affected by their father’s five-month absence.
My small daughter became very worried about her father’s
absence.” Fatima, a Saudi-born wife of a Qatari man, said she
could no longer go see and visit her parents whom she had
previously visited every holiday and who visited her regularly
in turn. She said her father was stunned by what was
happening and couldn’t believe it, quoting him as saying: “I
feel like it’s all fiction.”

Abu Al-Mahra, a Qatari who is married to a Bahraini woman,

recalled that he used to accompany his wife to visit her family
once or twice a month. But at the time of her interview she
had not visited her family for four months due to the fear that
the children would not be able to return home after their visit.
This fear was rooted in his previous experience bringing his
family back to Doha after the blockade was announced. When
he went to bring them to Qatar, the Bahraini authorities
refused to allow his wife to travel. After some difficulty, he
brought his marriage certificate, and was allowed to
accompany his wife and children back to Qatar. He said:
“Before the blockade, I used to take my wife and children and
come back every month, sometimes twice a month. Now, it
has been four months since we last went. They went but I had
to bring them back because they are always asking about who
the husband is. So, I was afraid that they would detain the
children.”

 Positive effects of the Blockade

In key ways, the blockade bolstered Qatar’s economy. This

can be a positive development for regional integration.
Stronger individual states will strengthen the region as a
whole. Now that the blockade is lifted, the summit
communique envisions greater military, foreign policy, and
economic integration among GCC member states —
integration for which the region is now better positioned. How
will this be achieved? How will the blockade experience
inform integration efforts? How can the GCC become a more
effective institution? The long-term success of integration
efforts will require GCC states to work together as equal
partners, agree on common objectives, and strengthen their
multilateral institutions.