UK pulling investments out of Qatar

Mustafa Kamel

The future of British investments in Qatar is uncertain, against the background of an increase in violations against migrant workers and opponents in the small Gulf emirate.

The government of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has recently decided to pull £6 billion in investments out of Qatar.

Sharing concerns

Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne took the decision to pull the investments out of Qatar after the members of an independent audit committee criticized the investment, saying they violated the principles of equality and diversity.

Committee member Mike Heap said: “We talk about ethical investing – lending money to Qatar does seem to jar somewhat with everything we say about equality, diversity and how we like to go about our business.

Bourne said she shared the concerns about human rights in Qatar and that she had ordered the withdrawal of the investments within a general revision of the British investment portfolio in the Gulf state.

She quoted human rights observers in saying that Qatar still has a long way to comply with human rights standards.

The UK invested £20 billion in Qatar in 2019. The £6 billion pulled out of the country by the make up almost half of the investments of the Sussex Police and Crime Commission in Qatar, according to some reports.

The commission invests a total of £11.4 billion in Qatar, the same reports add.

The commission invested a total of £46.5 billion in 2018, less than of which went to Qatar.

Unending violations

Human Rights Watch referred to the tough conditions of migrant workers in Qatar.

It said Doha continued to punish the workers by imposing fines on them, putting them in jail and repatriate them forcibly.