US embassy cable - 05DOHA1907

C O N F I D E N T I A L DOHA 001907 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, QA 
SUBJECT: QATAR: OUTLINE OF DRAFT NATIONALITY LAW 
 
Classified By: CDA Scott McGehee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary. A draft law on nationality shared with the 
Embassy limits the number of foreigners who can be granted 
Qatari nationality to 50 per year. Those nationalized would 
not have the right to vote and their citizenship could be 
revoked upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Interior. 
The law represents no progress for women, who will not be 
able to obtain citizenship for a non-Qatari husband or for 
her children of that husband. Post proposes consulation with 
the GOQ on this issue. End Summary. 
 
2. (C) Post obtained a copy of a draft law on nationality 
from an contact. The law has been drafted out of the public 
eye, and there has been no discussion of it in the press. The 
Advisory Council has not been consulted on the issue. The 
draft the Embassy obtained is probably nearly complete. The 
law is more restrictive than the 1961 law it replaces. Post 
has sent an informal translation of the law with NEA/ARPI 
separately. 
 
3. (C) Original Qataris: As in the 1961 law, "original 
Qataris" are defined as those who lived in Qatar before 1930 
and maintained their nationality and residence in Qatar. 
 
4. (C) Naturalization is done by Amiri decree and is limited 
to 50 cases per year. The previous law specified no limit. A 
resident must have lived in Qatar for 25 years; previously, 
the period was 20 years. Other conditions remain generally 
the same: Knowledge of Arabic, the ability to earn a living, 
and having a good reputation. The wife of a naturalized 
citizen can be granted citizenship by Amiri decree after five 
years (previously, 1 year). Naturalized citizens will not 
have the right to vote or to to hold legislative office. A 
naturalized Qatari is not eligible for public sector 
employment until five years have passed. The decendents of a 
naturalized Qatari will be considered naturalized; this group 
of citizens will not obtain rights equal to those of original 
Qataris. 
 
5. (C) Nationality can be revoked from naturalized citizens 
more easily than from original Qataris. The reasons include 
involvement in "crimes of honor or breach of trust" and 
living outside Qatar for more than one year. The Ministry of 
Interior may also recommend revocation of citizenship if it 
is in the "public interest." 
 
6. (C) Women's rights are not advanced by the draft law. A 
Qatari woman cannot pass citizenship to a foreign husband or 
to her children with a foreign husband. A foreign wife of a 
Qatari must wait five years to obtain citizenship, compared 
to one year under the previous law. 
 
COMMENT AND POST ACTION 
----------------------- 
 
7. (C) The authority to grant or revoke citizenship is nearly 
entirely in the hands of the Amir. With specific 
qualifications on what would propel a prospective citizen 
into the ranks of the lucky 50, transparency is not 
well-served by this law. It is restrictive, rather than 
inclusive, with respect to the residents (mostly 
Palestinians) who were born and spent their entire lives in 
Qatar. Neither is it progressive on the issue of transmission 
of citizenship through female citizens, in contrast to recent 
legal changes in Egypt and Morocco. Post proposes to seek 
information from th GOQ about the draft law and the GOQ's 
plans to move the law toward final implementation. 
MCGEHEE