Ambassador: Qatar to employ 20,000 Palestinians

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Qatar is to create work opportunities for up to 20,000 Palestinians, the Palestinian ambassador to Qatar said Saturday.

Munir Ghannam told Ma’an that "practical steps have started to embrace Palestinian workers in Qatar, as the country plans to host the first group of Palestinian workers after the holy month of Ramadan."

Qatar agreed in January 2014 to grant work visas to 20,000 Palestinians, following 20 years in which Palestinians had been unable to apply for work in the prosperous Gulf state.

The first group of Palestinian employees will include 200 Gazans and an unspecified number from the West Bank, and are expected to work in the field of education, the ambassador said Saturday.

He added that the embassy had asked Qatari officials to employ Palestinian refugees living in the Diaspora as well.

Ghannam said that a number of Qatari companies were scheduled to submit applications Saturday asking for permission to bring about 2,000 Palestinians into the country to work for them.

The ambassador said that Palestinian employees will be treated according to Qatari work laws and regulations, adding that Qatari companies and organizations "prefer to contract employees directly without a need for brokers." more

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