The Compensation Claims Committee received around 220 requests until Thursday seeking compensation for the damage caused by the ongoing blockade.
According to local Arabic daily Arrayah, the complaints mostly pertained to the adverse effects of the blockade on students, real estate owners, livestock owners and different businesses. The committee has also received more than 66 telephone inquiries through its hotline. The applicants point out that they have incurred big losses due to the blockade, which include losses related to cargo containers carrying various types of goods and which are stuck in some of the blockading countries. In some cases, the contents of such containers are being stolen due to negligence of the authorities concerned, the applicants have alleged.
A number of people are visiting the office every day since its launchSome of the complaints were about Qatari students who had been studying in the blockading countries and were suddenly denied access to their universities and expelled without any papers. They were not even allowed to reclaim the registration fees they had already paid, according to the complainants.Further, some of the complaints are about livestock owners who have lost huge amounts of money due to the blockade. In addition, there are cases of rights violations in which patients have been denied treatment and family ties abruptly severed.Abdullah al-Abbadi, a Qatari national, said he submitted a claim at the committee because he had bought a villa in the UAE through a real estate company for AED1.7mn and paid the first instalment of AED140,000 to the firm. He has to pay the second instalment soon and is scheduled to receive the villa in 2019. However, in view of the blockade, he now wants the money back and does not want to go ahead with the deal as he no longer trusts investments there. He is also hopeful that the crisis involving GCC countries will be resolved soon as the people of these countries have always been considered as one family.Fahd al-Emadi, another Qatari, said he had an apartment in Sharjah, the UAE, which he bought for more than AED800,000. Now, he does not what will become of it and is also worried about his bank account there.
Fahd al-Emadi at the Compensation Claims Committee officeAl-Emadi pointed out that he approached the committee to claim rent for the apartment, affirming his confidence that the government would take the necessary steps to guarantee the rights of Qatar's citizens and residents.Ahmed al-Askar, also a citizen, said he booked a wedding hall in Bahrain and made a down-payment of QR15,000. After the blockade he had to cancel his plans but the owner of the hall refused to pay him back the sum. In addition, he lost some goods in Saudi Arabia and the UAE and also lost the rent from his house in the UAE. Abdelsalam Mohamed, an expatriate who serves as director of a Customs clearance and cargo company, said his firm was incurring losses of around QR6.5mn a month due to the blockade, especially from the UAE. He submitted a request to the committee for damages, seeking compensation for containers stuck in the UAE. Some of these contain items that can go bad soon, he feared.
Abdelsalam Mohamed, one of the complainantsA number of Qatari women also submitted complaints as their camels and other livestock were stuck in Saudi Arabia in addition to several vehicles, as they were denied any access to their property. The loss estimates run into millions of riyals. Meanwhile, people who have been approaching the committee wished for good relations among all GCC countries and a return to normalcy.