MADRID, Dec. 6 (.) –
The Government of Qatar has announced on Tuesday the elimination of the requirement of an entry document to the country for citizens of the Arab states of the Gulf, in the midst of the rapprochement in the region after the blockade imposed on Doha between 2017 and 2021.
The Qatari Ministry of the Interior has announced the cancellation of the requirement to obtain the ‘hayjah’ for citizens and residents of countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC).
Thus, he stressed that these people will be able to enter the country through all border crossings without having to present this document, a measure that comes into force this Tuesday, as reported by the Qatari state news agency, QNA.
Qatar modified its entry requirements in November to allow entry to people without tickets to watch World Cup matches. The ‘hayya’ was an entry permit to Qatar that continues to be claimed to access the stadiums.
The announcement was made one day after a visit by the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the first he has made since the boycott led since 2014 by four countries in the region that accused Doha of “support terrorism”.
Qatar has recently improved its ties with the countries that led the boycott — Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE — after the boycott ended in January 2021, shortly before US President Joe Biden was sworn in.
These countries announced in January 2021 an agreement with Qatar to reopen borders and end the blockade on Qatar. These countries had previously suffered ups and downs in their relations, especially around the support of the Qatari authorities for the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization outlawed in most of the Gulf countries, and the role of the Al Jazeera chain in covering what is known as ‘ Arab Spring’.
However, and despite the fact that tensions rose in 2014 and implied the withdrawal of ambassadors, in the case of 2017 they implied a battery of much tougher measures that included the expulsion of citizens from the country and the closure of roads to means of transport. arrived from Qatar.
