Friday, December 8, 2017

Al-Thani Family's Qatar History Revisited: Part 5



As the 2017 World Almanac and Book of Facts noted, "military ties" of the U.S. government with the Al-Thani absolute monarchical government in Qatar "have been expanding" and "Camp As-Sayliyah, a base near Doha" in Qatar, "served as a command center for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, March 2003." In addition, "a 10-year defense cooperation agreement" between the Democratic Obama administration and the Al-Thani regime was signed on December 10, 2013. Yet most people in the United States know little about the history of Qatar during the last few hundred years. For example:    

A high percentage of the people who live and work in Qatar have, historically, been foreign nationals rather than full Qatari citizens. As Rosemarie Said Zahlan noted in her 1979 book, The Creation of Qatar:

"Almost half of the population of Qatar immediately prior to the oil era were foreigners--Baharians,Iranians and Africans...The population, which stood at approximately 28,000 in 1939, had probably fallen to 25,000 during the years of World War II...In 1939 roughly half the population lived in Doha, the capital city...Roughly 39 percent of the entire (Qatari) population...in 1939 were foreigners. Of these, 6,000 were Negroes who had been originally slaves; rather than leave Qatar, they continued to live there...The number of Persians who settled in Qatar grew in the 1920s, and by 1939 there were an estimated 5,000 living in Qatar."

By 1977, 64 percent of Qatar's population were foreign national workers, a majority of whom were non-Arab foreigners, including 25,000 foreign workers from Pakistan. In 1970, 83 percent of all workers in Qatari were foreign workers.  According to the 2012 book by Georgia State University Professor of History Allen Fromherz, Qatar: A Modern History:

"...Qatar's population...is now at around 1.7 million, more than 80 per cent of which consists of expatriate workers from around the world, servants and employees of the relatively small...Qatari population of around 225,000...

"In 2009 there were more than 1.2 million males in Qatar compared with some 350,000 females. Most of these males are single...or married men who have left their families...Similarly, non-Qatari females are also predominantly single when in Qatar...The influx of expatriate labor only really began in Qatar in the late 1960s. By the late 1970s, however, the numbers were rapidly increasing...

"...Around 7 out of 8 workers were non-Qatari in 2007. Most laborers are men in their twenties and thirties from South Asia. The number of women brought to Qatar as expatriate workers is much lower...There were only about 30,000 Qataris in the early 1960s...Qatari labor sponsorship law...requires all non-Qataris to be sponsored by a Qatari citizens, who has control over their status, visa, conditions, salary, and potential expulsion..."

2 comments:

  1. In September 1978 tot Juni 1979 heb ik via mijn werkgever, Schindler Liften uit Zwitserland, en een aantal collega's, de liften mogen installeren van het Ramada hotel te Doha. 11 etages hoog. Er was niets dan een woestijn, maar wel met een winkelcentrum. Zelf vond ik het een mooie periode. De temperatuur was verschrikkelijk. In september was het overdag 46 graden Celcius. We starten met 4 monteurs uit Nederland. Later werden we aangevuld, indien nodig, met mensen uit India, Pakistan en andere landen. Met vr. gr., John Janssen.

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  2. English translation of above from Dutch, according to Google: "From September 1978 to June 1979 I was allowed to install the lifts of the Ramada hotel in Doha through my employer, Schindler Liften from Switzerland, and a number of colleagues. 11 storeys high. There was nothing but a desert, but with a shopping center. I personally thought it was a beautiful period. The temperature was terrible. In September it was 46 degrees Celsius during the day. We start with 4 technicians from the Netherlands. Later we were supplemented, if necessary, with people from India, Pakistan and other countries. With VR. gr."

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