Qatari families fear being broken up by Gulf crisis

The crisis caused by several Gulf states severing diplomatic ties with Qatar stands to take a toll beyond the political issues, affecting individual families. Hundreds of mixed-citizenship Qatari couples are facing the grim prospect of being split from their families.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain ordered Qatari nationals to leave within 14 days, and citizens of these three countries were given the same time frame to leave Qatar. Anyone who refuses to follow the order may lose their passports, leaving them stateless.

Qatari single mother Wafaa Al-Yazeedi said her family might be split because her children hold Bahraini citizenship. She is afraid of losing her children.

Both Al-Yazeedi’s daughter and son believe that it will be hard for their single mother to live alone in Qatar. “Families are beyond passports. It makes no sense to separate them based on what their passports are,” said Al-Yazeedi’s daughter.

As the children’s education, family and career are all based in Qatar, they do not know what life will be like if they moved to Bahrain.

According to Qatari government data, nearly 6,500 Qatari citizens are married to Emiratis, Saudis or Bahrainis. And no one knows how or when this crisis will come to an end.