To never want to visit Qatar?

[RareLilacFinch]

The incessant full-page ads I’m getting on MN encouraging me to visit Qatar have got me thinking about why I’d never want to go there.

As a woman, there are obvious reasons - not wanting to be under the “guardianship” of my husband, and the forced gynaecological examinations of a plane full of Australian women being the tip of the iceberg - on top of the hideous human rights abuses of migrant workers, and the general suppression of free speech.

So AIBU - am I missing something?

Oh and the servants thing, in Qatar they are lovingly called Maids, they generally work 6 days a week, get about $400 a month and I think a return flight home once a year (if I remember rightly but it was about 8 years ago) I could be wrong as I never had one though. They work long hours and are lucky if they get to go home once a year to visit there kids in the Philippines. My friend had a maid, she specifically chose one who had kids in the Philippines because she thought they'd be better at looking after her own kids. That made me feel incredibly sad. When the family no longer needs a maid they do sometimes put a post out on expat Facebook groups saying how good she is, loyal, hardworking etc. So she gets a good family next time.

I would think gay people should potentially avoid it (although really it’s more about whether or not you make your sexuality explicit and most don’t - I have a gay male friend who has done numerous events in Saudi Arabia and the UAE with no issue) but then that could be said about the Caribbean too, but I genuinely think in general Qatar is a safe and welcoming place for tourists.

I have visited many countries and Qatar is definitely not one I would hesitate revisiting.

Interesting. You are the only married woman I have heard of living there that this happened to.

But yes absolutely of this was to be my experience there I would choose not to live there.

Do you think trans people should go there as well?

I was reading about this. This actually blows my mind.

I have zero idea. I would say a large number of places are not particularly trans friendly at the moment.

But for most tourists? Absolutely fine.

I don’t think there is any country on the planet that every single demographic group that exists would be absolutely fine there.

Did/do your married friends work? I'm glad no one had the hassle. Maybe for them they didn't mention it as it wasn't a big deal? It pissed me off as I just wanted to see a decent doctor.

Conversely I find Qatar, Oman etc to be a really popular tourist destination for the British Muslims I know as they don't need to worry about food, people staring at what they wear. They seem at peace at ignoring the blatant discrimination. Not for me though

So a safe and welcoming place for most tourists but not all.

Any other groups you think might not find Qatar a welcoming place, let alone a safe place, if not welcoming?

Agree completely, no desire to use their planes (nor any other gulf carrier) either. Flying Singapore to Oz

No.

One of my married friends works now (at her daughter’s school) but only in the last few years. Before that she was a housewife (which was part of the reason they moved there as they found being a single income family very difficult in the UK). They have been there well over a decade now.

Blimey, that's bonkers. Even in Saudi as a sponsored spouse, I could do all that by myself!

I lived in Saudi from 2013 to 2020 - I didn't need my husband for any of those things 🤷‍♀️

Yanbu. I don’t understand why any woman would choose to visit this country, or others like it.

Maybe I'm just extremely unlucky. I don't know why these 2 things were so annoying to do. It was 9 years almost ago almost 10. I could visit my usual medical centre alone, but for the one with the ex NHS doctors I definitely needed my husband there to sign up the family. I remember clearly as I was so upset. I never returned as I was fed up of the whole place by then. I didn't trust my other doctor either so just left it.

I’ve been to Qatar twice for work purposes, but the second time I extended my stay as it’s such a lovely place. Hospitality is amazing, weather superb, people friendly, lots to do…

I would love to go back one day.

I'm obviously unlucky.

I lived in Doha for a couple of years. It feels much, much safer than UK cities. No stabbings or antisocial behaviour. You could be out late at night in public at the weekend and it was all family groups peacefully enjoying themselves, rather than shouting, aggro groups of pissed-up men.

So I liked that aspect of it.

I do also think that people ask the wrong questions. Yes, people from India, the Philipines and various other countries come over to work for not a lot of money and are separated from their children from most of the time. But people should be asking why things are so bad in these countries that this feels like the best option available to them?

Many people from less well off countries are able to go home to build houses, open businesses and support families on the money they earn working in the Gulf.

To add - Qatar and the UAE are quite different now. Qatar has opted for a far more conservative path, and at this rate I can see Saudi overtaking them on the liberalisation front.

I’ve never wanted to visit it, so nothing has changed. 🤷‍♀️

Likewise same for me.

But people should be asking why things are so bad in these countries that this feels like the best option available to them?

That’s a good point.

I always think there's a tinge of Islamophobia in threads like this...

Dear god. What an appalling human rights violation.