UN court orders UAE to protect rights of Qataris in wake of diplomatic breakdown
The UAE demanded Qataris leave the country last year, but the International Court of Justice has ruled that families with Qatari members must be reunited, and Qatari students be allowed to complete studies in the UAE
The UN’s top court on Monday ordered the United Arab Emirates to protect the rights of Qatari citizens, wading into a bitter year-long crisis triggered when Gulf countries snapped ties with Doha.
Judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague narrowly ruled in a provisional but binding decision that the UAE must allow families which include Qatari members, to be reunited, and that Qatari students must be given the chance to complete their education in the Emirates.
But Doha denies the accusations, and last month appealed to the ICJ to impose emergency measures against the UAE to protect its citizens. It has also accused Abu Dhabi of breaking the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
In a hearing in late June, Qatar alleged that the United Arab Emirates was spreading a “climate of fear” among Qataris living there, splitting families and causing “substantial pain” during the year-long blockade.
On Monday, the court’s judges found in Doha’s favour, ruling the measures imposed by the UAE risked causing “irreparable harm” to Qatari citizens.
The judges ruled by eight votes to seven in favour of a series of provisional measures that the UAE “must ensure that families, that include a Qatari, separated by the measures adopted by the United Arab Emirates … are reunited,” said presiding judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf.
