Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05DOHA1907
2005-11-30 07:16:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Doha
Cable title:  

QATAR: OUTLINE OF DRAFT NATIONALITY LAW

Tags:  PGOV PHUM QA 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L DOHA 001907 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM QA
SUBJECT: QATAR: OUTLINE OF DRAFT NATIONALITY LAW

Classified By: CDA Scott McGehee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L DOHA 001907

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM QA
SUBJECT: QATAR: OUTLINE OF DRAFT NATIONALITY LAW

Classified By: CDA Scott McGehee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. A draft law on nationality shared with the
Embassy limits the number of foreigners who can be granted
Qatari nationality to 50 per year. Those nationalized would
not have the right to vote and their citizenship could be
revoked upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Interior.
The law represents no progress for women, who will not be
able to obtain citizenship for a non-Qatari husband or for
her children of that husband. Post proposes consulation with
the GOQ on this issue. End Summary.


2. (C) Post obtained a copy of a draft law on nationality
from an contact. The law has been drafted out of the public
eye, and there has been no discussion of it in the press. The
Advisory Council has not been consulted on the issue. The
draft the Embassy obtained is probably nearly complete. The
law is more restrictive than the 1961 law it replaces. Post
has sent an informal translation of the law with NEA/ARPI
separately.


3. (C) Original Qataris: As in the 1961 law, "original
Qataris" are defined as those who lived in Qatar before 1930
and maintained their nationality and residence in Qatar.


4. (C) Naturalization is done by Amiri decree and is limited
to 50 cases per year. The previous law specified no limit. A
resident must have lived in Qatar for 25 years; previously,
the period was 20 years. Other conditions remain generally
the same: Knowledge of Arabic, the ability to earn a living,
and having a good reputation. The wife of a naturalized
citizen can be granted citizenship by Amiri decree after five
years (previously, 1 year). Naturalized citizens will not
have the right to vote or to to hold legislative office. A
naturalized Qatari is not eligible for public sector
employment until five years have passed. The decendents of a
naturalized Qatari will be considered naturalized; this group
of citizens will not obtain rights equal to those of original
Qataris.


5. (C) Nationality can be revoked from naturalized citizens
more easily than from original Qataris. The reasons include
involvement in "crimes of honor or breach of trust" and
living outside Qatar for more than one year. The Ministry of
Interior may also recommend revocation of citizenship if it
is in the "public interest."


6. (C) Women's rights are not advanced by the draft law. A
Qatari woman cannot pass citizenship to a foreign husband or
to her children with a foreign husband. A foreign wife of a
Qatari must wait five years to obtain citizenship, compared
to one year under the previous law.

COMMENT AND POST ACTION
--------------


7. (C) The authority to grant or revoke citizenship is nearly
entirely in the hands of the Amir. With specific
qualifications on what would propel a prospective citizen
into the ranks of the lucky 50, transparency is not
well-served by this law. It is restrictive, rather than
inclusive, with respect to the residents (mostly
Palestinians) who were born and spent their entire lives in
Qatar. Neither is it progressive on the issue of transmission
of citizenship through female citizens, in contrast to recent
legal changes in Egypt and Morocco. Post proposes to seek
information from th GOQ about the draft law and the GOQ's
plans to move the law toward final implementation.
MCGEHEE