190 Qatari students were banned from entering Egypt

Egyptian authorities have banned some 190 Qatari students enrolled in Egyptian universities from pursuing their studies following the government’s imposition of new visa requirements, the Qatar-based National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) announced yesterday.

NHRC said that it had received 90 complaints from Qatari students who have faced several hurdles in continuing their university education in Egypt.

Some of the students were also prevented from attending final exams in September.

“The ban is due to the recent measures taken by the Egyptian authorities which have restricted Qatari students from studying in Egyptian universities,” NHRC pointed out.

“The Egyptian procedures require the Qatari students to obtain security approval ahead of granting them the entry visa to complete their studies in Egyptian universities or attending examinations,” the rights committee explained.

The Egyptian government is yet to comment on the Qatari committee’s remarks.

On 5 June, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties with Doha accusing it of “supporting terrorism”. Qatar denies the charges, claiming the dispute is an attack on its sovereignty.

Read: Qatar warns its citizens against travelling to Egypt

Despite the Egyptian authorities’ previous announcement that the Qatari students enrolled in Egyptian universities are excluded from the entry ban, students find it impossible to get a visa.

Although some of the students have already obtained visas to enter Egypt, authorities refused to allow them in at the airports claiming that they did not obtain security approval, as a result many missed their exams, the rights committee stressed.

The rights committee warned that this represent “a flagrant violation of the students’ right to education.”

NHRC noted that it had escalated the issue to several international organisations, including the National Council for Human Rights in Egypt, the United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO), the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

As of last June, the number of Qatari students in Egyptian public and private universities amounted to 1,738 students, according to official Egyptian data.

The Qatari Education Department has said that it is working on solutions to the current crisis.