Feeling stateless in senior year amid the blockade

By Omar Al Ansari

In summer 2017, Bahrain, among other neighboring nations, announced a blockade on Qatar and gave its citizens living there two weeks to return. Born in Doha to a Qatari mother and a Bahraini father, I had spent my whole life in Qatar. For me, leaving didn’t mean returning to Bahrain, but moving there.

As news spread about the country planning to revoke citizenship of nationals who remained in Qatar, my family remained unmoved. We thought the crisis was another temporary diplomatic rift — there had certainly been many such rifts in the past — but it soon became apparent that this time was different. The conflict didn’t just exist on newsfeeds and soundbites; it became personal the moment I stopped receiving my monthly educational stipend from the Supreme Education Council (SEC), part of Qatar’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

As a child of a Qatari mother, the SEC sponsored my undergraduate education, but soon after the blockade, my funding was put on hold for reasons that were not shared with me. With about a month before the start of my final year at Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q), a Qatar Foundation (QF) partner university, my anxiety over the loss of sponsorship began to grow.

My path to graduation has not been an easy one, and the mere thought of being unable to finish my studies left me feeling scared and vulnerable. When I first applied to NU-Q in 2012, I was rejected. I enrolled instead into the Academic Bridge Program, QF’s pre-university program that helps high school graduates prepare for college. After a year in the program, I applied again to NU-Q and became the first among my six siblings to be admitted into a world-class university.

My father had once told me that as his only child who had made it this far in college, I was his last hope. For five years, I had worked hard to uphold this hope, but imagining it being taken away due to circumstances beyond my control was a distressing thought. I was so worried that it took me a while before I even told my parents about the situation that was unfolding, as I didn’t want to disappoint them.

Feeling of statelessness

Unsure of what I was supposed to do, I started looking for alternate sources of funding, but realized that I would not be able to secure funding officially, as I now had no legal documents. My Bahraini ID and passport had expired just before the blockade, and the only country that could renew my documents had closed all doors on Qatar. While the crisis barred some from traveling to the blockading countries, it barred me from traveling anywhere at all.

While some found their way around the blockade to travel in between the Arabian Gulf countries for important matters, I was unable to leave Doha. My Qatari driving license soon expired too, and could not be renewed without my valid Bahraini ID. I couldn’t drive or travel legally. Lost and devoid of any options, I felt stateless at home.

By this time, three months had elapsed since the blockade. I had not heard back from SEC about the status of my funding. My parents were finally able to contact some workers at the Ministry directly, and my case was referred to the higher authorities in SEC. Soon after — and just one week before my university re-opened — my funding was restored. I got the good news through a phone call, and I was literally jumping in the air.

Later last year, my father was also able to arrange the necessary paperwork granting me special permission to travel to Bahrain via Oman, as Bahrain had banned all direct flights from Doha. While I was able to renew my passport and ID, my return to Qatar was not as straightforward. Before I was about to travel back, the Bahraini authorities cancelled the special permission that I had been granted and prevented me from leaving Bahrain. It was only my documentation as a student at QF that finally helped me leave Bahrain.

The blessing of education

This week, I will walk with my fellow classmates at QF Convocation 2018 to receive a degree from one of the top schools in the world. As excited as I am about making my parents proud after five years of turning my dream into a reality, I also feel very grateful.

The past year has given me a new perspective about the importance of people in my life. I have spent 19 years of my life studying at various institutes in QF, and throughout my time here, I have created bonds tying me strongly to its community. When the blockading countries say that affecting people is not their intention, I shake my head. This crisis is very much a people crisis, as much as it is a political crisis.

As I embark on whatever lies ahead, I know that the experience of finding myself at the center of this conflict made me realize the value of my education. The moment I receive my degree I will begin to work for the betterment of the people around me, and more importantly, contribute toward the development of Qatar.