Egypt stops sending workforce to Qatar

CAIRO – 07 June 2017: Egypt has stopped sending its citizens to Qatar for work, Russia Today reported on Wednesday citing a statement by the executive office of the Employment Authority for Egyptians Abroad.

“About 250,000 Egyptians work in Qatar, and participate in development plans there,” said the head of the executive office Hamdy Emam. The statement added that Egyptians work in many fields such as engineering, construction, medicine and education.

The Cairo Chamber of Commerce asked Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to provide more work for the Egyptian labor force in order to compensate the shortage caused by the rift with Qatar, Russia Today reported.

Concerning opening new markets for the Egyptian labor force in Africa, Emam said that they are still studying needs of the African market, in cooperation with chambers of commerce there.

The decision to suspend migrant work in Qatar was taken after Egypt and a number of Gulf states severed ties with Qatar over allegations that Qatar supports terrorism.

“Egyptians are scared, they have jobs and a stable life here with their families. There is a state of panic," said Mohamed Iraqi, head of the Egyptian community in Qatar, to Reuters. Iraqi’s statements came after diplomatic ties were cut on Monday.

The Egyptian Government has also confirmed that recent developments in Qatari-Egyptian relations “have no effect” on Egyptian laborers in Qatar. Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said following a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

“Egypt’s government is following up on the consequences of severing diplomatic relations with Qatar, and we formed an emergency committee to assist Egyptians in Qatar,” Ismail added.