Qatar suspends allotting 20,000 work visas for Palestinians

Some sources close to labor ministry of Palestinian Authority reveal that Qatar suspended plan to allocate some 20,000 work visas to the Palestinian people.

Qatar previously has agreed to allocate some 20,000 work visas to the Palestinian people, according to the state’s ambassador in Doha.

Speaking to Doha News, Ambassador Munir Ghannam has said that the visas were in response to a request made by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah during a visit to Qatar late last year.

The visas would allow those holding Palestinian identification documents – and do not necessarily have passports – to work in Qatar, and would roughly double the size of the Palestinian population here, Ghannam said.

He added, however, that thousands of residents of Palestinian origin holding foreign passports do live in Qatar, but he has no estimates on that.

Ghannam has said the measure would provide much-needed work and income for residents of the occupied territories, where the unemployment rate is estimated to be around 23 percent.

“It’s one of the best moments for me (in the time that) I’ve lived in Qatar,” Ghannam said.