Despite the soothing reports on ongoing efforts to end the Qatar crisis, confusion and concern are mounting in Kerala among the families of the Keralites working in that country as reports are flowing in about fears of the possibilities of food shortage there in the coming days, uncertainties in the aviation sector and other discomforting developments like the alleged refusal by exchange firms to accept Qatari Riyal.
Most Keralites in Qatar are telling their families and relatives that there is nothing to worry and that there is no possibility of the situation worsening to the level of a conflict. However, the disruption in air services, blockage of supplies, mainly from Saudi Arabia, and fears about delay in a solution to the crisis are causing concerns in Kerala.
“My son called me this (Tuesday) morning from Doha. He says that everything is all right and that the Qatari rulers know how to deal with the situation. But I am worried as I have experienced the aftereffects of two conflicts and an economic recession in the Gulf,” said Gulf-returnee Sivaraman, father of a youth working as driver in Qatar.
Sensing the seriousness of the situation, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan requested the Centre to take steps to ensure the safety and well-being of Keralites in Qatar while Norka-Roots, an official agency concerned with non-resident Keralite affairs, has started efforts to collect details of the Keralites in that country.
Meanwhile, Goa’s lone Rajya Sabha member Shantaram urged Union Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to ensure their safety along with the six lakh Indians working in the middle-eastern country. Over 10,000 Goans are living in Qatar.
In a letter written to Swaraj, Naik has said that the non-resident Indian community in Qatar has helped in boosting the economy of the country and were in need of assistance due to the uncertainty in Qatar.
Keralites in Doha reported that the rush witnessed at supermarkets for food items on Monday, probably because of “over-anxiety expressed through social media” about the possibility of a shortage of food items in the context of the trade embargo Saudi Arabia and others have virtually imposed on Qatar, was not there on Tuesday.
“However, the anxiety has come down after the (Qatari) Foreign Minister said the country has sufficient stocks of essential goods and that steps have already been taken for importing items. The plan seems to be to bring things from Iran, India, Sri lanka, etc,” said a Keralite quality analyst working with a food processing unit outside Doha.
Wilson KF, a Doha-based Keralite accountant, agreed with this, “Unlike in the earlier conflict situations and the 2008 slowdown, there is no panic among our people. They are almost certain that there will be no large-scale job loss. Also, they seem to believe that the crisis will end within a few weeks if not in a few days,” said Wilson KF, a Doha-based Keralite accountant.
However, he said several Keralites who were doing business in Qatar and had business interests in countries like the UAE and Bahrain might face some serious difficulties. “There are Keralite businessmen in Qatar who do re-exporting and re-importing to and from here and the other (Gulf) countries. The (virtual) trade embargo could hit them,” he pointed out.
The biggest difficulty the Keralites - and other expatriates - in Qatar are facing is related to aviation following the severance of services between that country and its present adversaries. “This problem may worsen after schools close later this month, if the crisis does not end before that,” SK Ashraf, a Keralite working with an airline company in Doha said.
The crisis is unlikely to affect the direct flight services like those of Qatar Airways between Doha and airports in Kerala. “A large number of Keralites working in Qatar, perhaps the majority of them, fly to and out of Doha mainly via Dubai and other airports. All of them are now being forced to reschedule their journeys,” Ashraf said.
The airline companies that have severed links with Doha have promised full refund upon ticket cancellation to passengers who had booked with them for journeys into and out of Qatar but they will have to pay more for buying fresh tickets on flights directly out of and into Qatar. Also, it will be almost impossible for them to get tickets for journey on their originally scheduled dates.