UNESCO receives Qatari students’ violation report

Rights Committee says 85 violations against Qatari students were committed in UAE, 29 in Saudi Arabia and 25 in Bahrain.

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NHRC'S chairman said that the actions of the educational institutions in the siege countries represent a violation of education rights [AFP]

The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) in Qatar has submitted a report to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) detailing the violations committed by educational institutions against Qatari students in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The report was filed by the NHRC’S Chairman Ali bin Smaikh al-Marri during a meeting with Eric Falt, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for External Relations and Public Information, in Paris on Thursday.

Al Marri said that violations against students included preventing them from taking final exams, withholding certificates of graduation, closing their educational accounts and arbitrarily terminating their registration without giving reasons.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed a blockade against it on June 5 over allegations that it funds “terrorism”.

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The three Arab Gulf countries, along with Egypt, who have severed relations, have not provided any evidence for their claims, while Qatar has repeatedly denied the allegations as “baseless”.

Al Marri said that the file was submitted to UNESCO as it is the competent international organisation to resolve those kind of issues and put an end to the inhumane violations committed by the siege countries.

At least 85 violations against Qatari students were committed in the UAE, followed by 29 violations in Saudi Arabia and 25 in Bahrain, according to the report.

Last month, the NHRC in Qatar said it has monitored several serious violations against Qatari students in three neighbouring countries amid a major regional fallout.

Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee, which has previously called the moves against Qatar “worse than the Berlin Wall”, said that the “unjust siege” was affecting the right to education for Qatari students in the three countries, and especially in the UAE.

It also urged universities and educational institutions in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to put aside political differences and take into account the rights of Qatari students and not put obstacles in the way of their right to education.

Source: Al Jazeera

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