A delegation from Al Ghufran Tribe, one of the biggest tribes in Qatar, staged a protest on Tuesday in front of the United Nations in Geneva. WAM
A delegation from Al Ghufran Tribe, one of the biggest tribes in Qatar, staged a protest on Tuesday in front of the United Nations in Geneva. WAM
A delegation from Al Ghufran Tribe, one of the biggest tribes in Qatar, staged a protest on Tuesday in front of the United Nations in Geneva. WAM
A delegation from Al Ghufran Tribe, one of the biggest tribes in Qatar, staged a protest on Tuesday in front of the United Nations in Geneva. WAM

Qatari tribe holds sit-in at UN HQ to protest Doha 'crimes'

The Al Ghufran tribe called on the international community to help their cause

The National

September 19, 2018

  • English
  • Arabic

One of Qatar's biggest tribes held a sit-in protest outside the United Nations headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday to denounce the crimes of Doha, where officials have revoked their citizenship and security forces have tortured members of the tribe.

The group staged the sit-in protest in front of the Broken Chair sculpture opposite the United Nations Palace in Geneva.

The tribe called on the international community to take a decisive stand on the Tamim regime, whom, they claim, have violated a number of international conventions and treaties through its racist policies against the Al-Ghufran tribe, Emirati news agency Wam reported.

The group urged the UN to investigate Qatar for its actions against the tribe.

“Our issue with the Qatar regime is purely humanitarian and not political, this is why we came here to present our case and our demands to the United Nations Human Rights Council. Our demands are clear: The Qatar regime should be held accountable for the crimes that it has committed against us and other Qataris, and the restoration of our rights,” Hamad Khaled Al-Marri, a member of the tribe, who took part in the stand, stated.

_______________

Read more:

Qatari emir travels to Turkey as economic pressure grows

Only Qatar can end the crisis it triggered

_______________

Members also spoke of their dismay at the regime giving Qatari nationalities to extremists, especially Islamic extremists, who have participated in violence in Egypt, Syria, Libya and Iraq, while they have had their citizenship revoked.

On Monday, a delegation representing the Al Ghufran tribe handed a letter to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, that claimed systemic discrimination at the hands of the authorities in Doha.

The tribe's representatives asked the UN office for the second time this month to stop Qatari authorities’ continuous, systematic discrimination against them, and to protect the tribe’s members, restore their lost rights and to punish the Qatari regime for human rights violations.

In reaction to the Al Ghufran tribe’s opposition to the Qatari regime’s destabilising policies in the region and its dispute with the neighbouring Gulf states, Qatari authorities revoked the citizenship of Sheikh Taleb Bin Lahom Bin Shreim in August. It did the same for 54 members of his family who belong to the Al Murrah tribe in a step considered to be an arbitrary act by various Human Rights organisations.

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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara

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