Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen have severed diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism. As reported by BBC News on 5 June 2017, it was a
speech given by Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in May which was the proverbial straw that broke the camel"s back: "[H]e was purported to have criticised America, offered support for Iran, reaffirmed Qatar's support for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and said that Qatar's relations with Israel were "˜good"". Meanwhile, the border with Saudi Arabia has been closed, and air and sea travel to and from Qatar has been suspended by the countries involved. In addition, all Qatari citizens have to leave these countries within two weeks. It is believed that Saudi Arabia dared to take this step after talks with US President Trump during his first state-visit to the kingdom in May 2017.
Maurits Bosch, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, explains: "Of course, Qatari officials deny there was any truth in the reports on the emir"s speech, but the key problem is that the comments he is said to have made simply express what many have long understood to be Qatar's true foreign policy positions. If the diplomatic situation is not solved swiftly, Qatar"s economy will inevitably suffer and food shortages are already a problem. In times of economic deprivation people at the bottom of society always suffer most; since Christians in Qatar are mainly migrant workers, a highly marginalized and vulnerable group, they are likely to be seriously affected."
