Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09DOHA333
2009-05-21 10:10:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Doha
Cable title:  

CHURCH MEMBERS ORDERED DEPORTED, APPARENTLY FOR

Tags:  PREL PHUM KIRF CASC QA 
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VZCZCXRO9849
PP RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDIR
DE RUEHDO #0333/01 1411010
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 211010Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9072
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000333 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/20/2019
TAGS: PREL PHUM KIRF CASC QA
SUBJECT: CHURCH MEMBERS ORDERED DEPORTED, APPARENTLY FOR
PROSELYTIZING

Classified By: Ambassador Joseph E. LeBaron, for reasons 1.4 (b, d).

----------------
(SBU) KEY POINTS
----------------

-- 31 Americans and perhaps as many as 80 non-Americans
affiliated with Grace Fellowship or Al Shamal home churches
have been ordered deported from Qatar, possibly for
proselytizing.

-- The GOQ has not provided Embassy Doha, or the persons
facing deportation, with an official reason for the order.

-- Ambassador immediately engaged GOQ officials and is
engaging his counterparts at other Embassies since first
becoming aware May 19 of this issue.

-- The Prime Minister's office is aware of our concerns; the
Minister of State for Interior Affairs and an MFA Assistant
Minister are looking into the deportation orders, and
Ambassador is expected to have one or more meetings the week
of May 25.

-- MFA has told the Ambassador that the limiting date of the
deportation orders, which give the recipients two weeks
to leave the country, will be delayed by one week while GOQ
officials look into the matter.

--------------
(SBU) COMMENTS
--------------

-- Americans facing deportation who have spoken with Embassy
personnel state that they have not proselytized.

-- It is not clear what exactly constitutes "proselytizing"
in Qatar.

-- As we learn more about the events described here, Embassy
Doha will appropriately update the Country Specific
Information for Qatar.

-- Since "Church City" opened outside Doha in March 2008,
the GOQ has advised Christian fellowships that they must
affiliate with one of the churches (Roman Catholic, Greek
Orthodox, Church of England, etc.) housed on the premises.
Grace Fellowship has been in discussions with the Church of
England in this regard. Grace Fellowship is currently
unaffiliated and holds services in a rented villa.

-- Unlike Grace Fellowship, Al Shamal has not applied for
church registration with the GOQ.

-- Within the last two years, 16 Americans and non-Americans
reportedly have been deported for proselytizing, although the
reasons for their deportation have not always been clear in
every case.

End Key Points and Comments.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000333

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/20/2019
TAGS: PREL PHUM KIRF CASC QA
SUBJECT: CHURCH MEMBERS ORDERED DEPORTED, APPARENTLY FOR
PROSELYTIZING

Classified By: Ambassador Joseph E. LeBaron, for reasons 1.4 (b, d).

--------------
(SBU) KEY POINTS
--------------

-- 31 Americans and perhaps as many as 80 non-Americans
affiliated with Grace Fellowship or Al Shamal home churches
have been ordered deported from Qatar, possibly for
proselytizing.

-- The GOQ has not provided Embassy Doha, or the persons
facing deportation, with an official reason for the order.

-- Ambassador immediately engaged GOQ officials and is
engaging his counterparts at other Embassies since first
becoming aware May 19 of this issue.

-- The Prime Minister's office is aware of our concerns; the
Minister of State for Interior Affairs and an MFA Assistant
Minister are looking into the deportation orders, and
Ambassador is expected to have one or more meetings the week
of May 25.

-- MFA has told the Ambassador that the limiting date of the
deportation orders, which give the recipients two weeks
to leave the country, will be delayed by one week while GOQ
officials look into the matter.

--------------
(SBU) COMMENTS
--------------

-- Americans facing deportation who have spoken with Embassy
personnel state that they have not proselytized.

-- It is not clear what exactly constitutes "proselytizing"
in Qatar.

-- As we learn more about the events described here, Embassy
Doha will appropriately update the Country Specific
Information for Qatar.

-- Since "Church City" opened outside Doha in March 2008,
the GOQ has advised Christian fellowships that they must
affiliate with one of the churches (Roman Catholic, Greek
Orthodox, Church of England, etc.) housed on the premises.
Grace Fellowship has been in discussions with the Church of
England in this regard. Grace Fellowship is currently
unaffiliated and holds services in a rented villa.

-- Unlike Grace Fellowship, Al Shamal has not applied for
church registration with the GOQ.

-- Within the last two years, 16 Americans and non-Americans
reportedly have been deported for proselytizing, although the
reasons for their deportation have not always been clear in
every case.

End Key Points and Comments.


1. (SBU) Based on current information available to Embassy
Doha, the Ministry of the Interior has ordered the
deportation of 31 American citizens, representing nine
families, apparently for proselytizing. American citizen and
other Embassy contacts have told us that a group of
non-Americans, perhaps as many as 80, have also been ordered
deported.


2. (SBU) The GOQ has not yet provided the Embassy with a
reason for the deportation orders, but the Ambassador is
seeking additional detail, including the justification for
the deportations. Persons receiving deportation orders are
all affiliated with Grace Fellowship or Al Shamal, both
non-denominational Protestant church groups.


3. (SBU) Since Embassy Doha first became aware May 19 of the
deportation orders, Ambassador has engaged MFA Assistant
Minister of Follow-Up Affairs Mohamad Al-Rumaihi (who earlier
this month became responsible for the religious freedom
portfolio within the GOQ),Minister of State for Interior
Affairs Shaykh Abdullah bin Khalid Al Thani (whose Ministry
issues and enforces deportation orders),and the office
director for the Prime Minister. Ambassador expects to see
the Prime Minister next week, and intends to raise the issue
with him then.


4. (SBU) Assistant Minister Al-Rumaihi told Ambassador May 19
that he was unaware of the ordered deportations but that he
would look into the issues involved. He later reported to
Ambassador that he had succeeded in delaying the effective

DOHA 00000333 002 OF 002


date of the deportation orders by one week. (Note:
Americans citizens receiving these orders had told Consul
Ponce prior to Al-Rumaihi's intervention that they were
required to leave Qatar within two weeks, or a week following
the end of the school year for families with children.)


5. (C) Trying to be helpful, Al-Rumaihi advised Ambassador
that challenging the deportation orders in court -- assuming
proselytizing is the underlying cause -- would not be
advisable, since under Qatari law persons accused of
proselytizing face a prison sentence of up to three years.


6. (SBU) Shaykh Abdullah told Ambassador May 21 by phone that
he would meet with him the week of May 25 to discuss the
deportation orders. The Prime Minister's office director
said he would make the Prime Minister aware of the issue,
while encouraging Ambassador to continue his communications
with Shaykh Abdullah and Assistant Minister Al-Rumaihi.


7. (SBU) Ambassador is engaging his counterparts at other
Embassies, including those of the United Kingdom and South
Africa, whose citizens reportedly face deportation.

LeBaron