Qatar crisis: King issues directives to cater to humanitarian cases

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has issued a new directive that requires the humanitarian needs of Saudi and Qatari families to be taken into consideration.

The move has also been mirrored in the UAE and Bahrain.

A statement posted on the Saudi Foreign Ministry’s official Twitter account confirmed the “deep ties” between Saudi and Qatari people.

The latest announcements mean restrictions will be eased for Qataris married to citizens of the three countries.

Qatari nationals living in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE were previously ordered to leave within 14 days after the three countries severed ties with Qatar last Monday, suspending land, sea and air travel links.

“The Qatari people are a genuine extension of their brothers in Saudi Arabia. King Salman addresses the humanitarian cases of Saudi-Qatari joint families, the people of Qatar are in King Salman’s heart,” the statement said.

It added that the Ministry of Interior has set up the hotline — +966 112 409111 — to receive cases and take appropriate action.

The UAE and Bahrain have also taken similar measures. UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has instructed the authorities to address the cases of Emirati-Qatari families.

And like Saudi Arabia, special helplines have been set up in the UAE (+971 800 2626) and Bahrain (+973 1739 9821).

An official UAE source, quoted by the state news agency WAM, said these measures “were in line with the statement issued by the UAE, that severed ties with Qatar for the pretexts mentioned in the resolution and its procedures.”

An official statement, carried by the Bahrain News Agency, said further to “severing diplomatic relations with Qatar, and the measures taken as a result of its continued hostile behavior against Bahrain, a Royal Order was issued by King Hamad to take into account the humanitarian situation of Bahraini-Qatari families in appreciation of the brotherly Qatari people who represent a natural extension of their brothers in Bahrain.”

Doha, meanwhile, said it would “not take any measures against residents of Qatar who hold the nationalities of countries that severed diplomatic ties.”