Qatar’s discrimination of its peaceful Baha’i minority took a grim turn for the worse this week, with news of the illegitimate and unjust deportation of two prominent Baha’is from Qatar and the imminent deportation of two others.

The four individuals, who cannot be named at this time, serve or have served in voluntary administrative capacities within institutions that tend to the welfare of Qatar’s Baha’i community. Deporting them is an attack by Qatar’s authorities on the Baha’i community and comes after the deportation last year of Wahid Bahji and the harassment and detention of Remy Rowhani—at a time when most neighboring Arab countries are coming to embrace religious tolerance and coexistence in their societies.

“My heart is breaking as I prepare to leave the country I have called home my entire life,” one of the Baha’is told the Baha’i International Community (BIC), on condition of anonymity.

No official documents have been issued for the deportations and the four Baha’is were verbally informed only that it is a matter of “public order,” without explanation.

The four also have six dependents, between them, and have held residency in Qatar for a combined 162 years.

All Qatar residents and citizens are required to register with a Ministry of Interior smartphone app which allows them to access government services and manage administrative matters. The four Baha’is have been blocked from accessing the app’s section on residency permits for several weeks and, when seeking to resolve the issue, they were given verbal notice that their residencies were being revoked and that they were required to leave the country.

The lack of any official deportation documents means that these individuals are unable to follow up their cases with the Qatari authorities, seek asylum abroad, or appeal to international human rights organizations for help.

“We are devastated and outraged that these four Baha’is—almost all of whom have lived in Qatar for their entire lives, and their families for several generations—are being uprooted and dispossessed in such a brutal manner,” said Dr Saba Haddad, a BIC Representative to the United Nations in Geneva. “Qatar is their only home, and they have given it their all for decades, contributing to society, building businesses and educating the next generation.”

“Expelling these four individuals from Qatar in this disgraceful way, without even any official documentation, will destroy their lives, the lives of their six dependents, and affect hundreds of people to whom they are connected across the country,” Dr Haddad said.

Two of the Baha’is, a married couple, have two school-aged children and two aging, infirm and disabled parents. The parents have already been forced to relocate out of the country and are, as a result, separated from their daughter and primary caregiver.

“The most painful part of leaving is knowing that I will be separated from my parents,” this individual said. “I was the one who took them to their doctors’ appointments, looked after them when they needed me, and made sure they were okay. And now, one of my deepest fears is that I will not be there when they need me the most.”

The mother of another of the four—who has severe vision impairment and requires constant medical care—has also been forced to leave Qatar because her residency is sponsored by her son and can no longer be maintained. And a nephew of this individual, whose father is deceased and buried in Qatar, will lose his principal financial provider if his uncle is deported.

Over 20 Baha’i families, comprising about 100 people, have been forced to leave Qatar over the past 15 years in an ongoing campaign by the government to erase the Baha’is from the country. Promises from officials to resolve these cases have proved to be empty.

“Such grim deportations are impossible to reconcile with the longstanding record of service that the Baha’is have offered to Qatar,” Dr Haddad said. “Forcing elderly and infirm people into exile also contradicts Qatar’s professed commitment to caring for families, the aging and disabled. Prejudice and misunderstanding, on the part of some Qatari officials, have shaped policy to the point that profound harm is now falling on individuals and these families.”

“We hope Qatar’s authorities will reconsider these measures and resolve this matter with justice and compassion,” she added.

The individual Baha’i, meanwhile, relating the moment government officials gave verbal notice of deportation, told the BIC: “How do you say goodbye to a place that holds your entire life? How do you accept that a place you never thought you would have to leave may no longer be a place to which you can ever return?”

“Qatar will always be home, no matter where life takes me,” the individual added. “A part of my heart, my childhood, my memories, and my life will always remain there. Leaving is not just saying goodbye to a country: it feels like saying goodbye to a lifetime.”

For more information, please contact

• Saba Haddad, Representative, Geneva, [email protected], +41783082219 (English, Arabic)

• Rachel Bayani, Principal Representative, New York, [email protected], +12128032519 (English, French, German)