Qatar yet to free women and children held at cramped deportation centre
Since the Qatar newspapers only seem to report about visiting dignitaries, I also read the other Gulf newspapers and came across this article in the UAE GulfNews, which I think deserves attention:
Qatar yet to free women and children held at cramped deportation centre
By Barbara Bibbo', Correspondent - 14Dec2006 - Gulfnews
Doha: Hundreds of women with children and newborns are being held at a deportation centre in Qatar despite a visiting UN official's calls for their liberation a month ago, a human rights activist said.
"Women with their children are still being held at the deportation centre, a month after a UN delegate called for their liberation. We do not know how many are being held there, because we cannot visit the centre," an official at the National Office for Combating Human Trafficking told Gulf News yesterday.
"These women and their children should be considered victims and not criminals. We have written to the Ministry of Interior asking for their liberation, but they have not yet replied."
Long wait
Illegal immigrants and those fleeing from abusive sponsors are detained at the centre before being deported. Journalists cannot access the place, which has been described by some diplomats as a prison.
Sigma Huda, UN Special Rapporteur for Trafficking in Persons, during her visit in November, had denounced the detention of women with children and newborns at the centre and deplored the poor living conditions in which they are held.
"Whilst visiting the deportation centre I found that many female migrant workers are detained for long periods living in congested conditions. They have limited contact with their families and are not informed on the status of their case. I also found mothers with newborns and small children being held there ... in [the] overcrowded centre," she told Gulf News during her visit.
The official said 1,168 people were under detention at the centre at the time of her visit. She said 251 were women, but she did not give the number of children.
"We have asked the Ministry of Interior to be allowed to move the mothers and their children from the deportation centre. But they have not yet replied," the official said yesterday.
The Ministry of Interior did not reply to calls to comment on the issue.
The UN official had described the situation of foreign domestic workers in Qatar, in particularly women, of "alarming proportions" and urged Qatar to implement its obligations related to human trafficking.
"Their cases often fail to be investigated with due diligence."
yes lets arrange some donations such food, clothes, baby clothes, of anything that they can uses inside the jail and the authority allowed. this will be qatarliving urgent get together event soon rather then talking meeting up for drinks in places. please people lets do this.
but there is no AI or HRW out here to put much pressure on the government. Maybe we should try and arrages a huge letter wirting faxing plea to the necessary bodies to show that people are aware of whats going on that people care and people want to change this. Could we do this do you think?
I have a lot of outgrown baby/kids clothes, i'm sure many of us do, perhaps u can give us details /address so we can organise to collect them at a central point and then deliver them from there.
Hello Drake,
Its so true what your post in here. Some of my friends visited the place for the Indonesian woman and children there. We all collected some items such clothes for the woman and children, canned food, milk, diapers etc. They in very bad condition. I only can pray for them. Hope the Authority will release them soonest.