Frenchieman - for professional expats who have a multiple exit visa it is not a prison. If you can't enter and exit the country without your employer's written permission - it is not unlike a prison. Most of us don't have problems with this, but for those who do, it is a hindrance at best a ball and chain at worst.

Qatar is an adherent to human rights (recently there's been a public campaign concerning human trafficking) - you might argue if you control entry and exit to the country via an exit permit - that is a form of control and in extreme cases, trafficking.