By K T Chacko

(Gulf Times) — Members of the Ethiopian community in Qatar yesterday said they hoped that political relations between Doha and Addis Ababa Woyanne would improve and ties return to normal as early as possible.

“We are here to earn our livelihood and were shocked to hear the announcement of Ethiopia Woyanne severing diplomatic ties with Qatar. Most of us learnt of it from the Ethiopian TV channel and it came as a big surprise to us,” they said.

Ethiopia’s government Woyanne had cited Qatar’s “strong ties” with Eritrea for the move. It also accused Doha of meddling in the affairs of the Horn of Africa region.

Qatar has termed Ethiopian Woyanne allegations as frivolous and baseless.

In Doha, a Qatari official dismissed Ethiopia’s Woyanne’s charges, saying it had always done its utmost to combat terrorism. “The Ethiopian charges do not deserve a reaction from us. Qatar’s foreign policy is clear. Qatar underlines the importance of peaceful settlement of all disputes between nations.”

There are an estimated 12,000 Ethiopian nationals in Qatar. Most of them are housemaids while the majority of the men are employed in private companies in different positions, ranging from drivers to technicians and executives. There is a big demand for Ethiopian housemaids in Qatar.

Some of them said they were worried about the turn of events. Joseph, who works in a premium Doha store said he was only interested in his job and not bothered about international or domestic politics. “Some of my friends called to ask about the latest news and the possible consequences of the Ethiopian government’s Woyanne’s decision. Everybody seemed to be worried,” he said.

The absence of an embassy in Doha has added to the confusion and worry. “In such situations, people generally turn to their diplomatic missions for guidance but we don’t know what is happening. I tried to contact our embassy in Kuwait (which looks after Qatar), but the number on their website turned out to be wrong,” a community member said.

“In the absence of a direct air link between Qatar and Ethiopia, we mostly depend on Emirates which operates direct flights between Dubai and Addis Ababa. We hope Qatar Airways begins a flight to our capital soon,” one of them said.

About half of the people of Ethiopia, a country located in the Horn of Africa, are Muslims, the remaining being Christians and animists. All the Ethiopians Gulf Times spoke to said there was absolute communal harmony in their country and Christians and Muslims lived in perfect peace.

The Horn of Africa is a peninsula of East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometres into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent. The term also refers to the greater region containing the countries of Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia.

An Ethiopian expatriate who has been working at a power project said the recent row was between two governments and not between the peoples. “It is a political development and we have nothing to do with it. We only want to focus on our jobs and make the best out of our stay in Qatar,” he said.
Nebiyou Gezhagne, a community leader, said Ethiopians were happy in Qatar and they wanted to live and work in this country. He said he came to know about the “development” from Gulf Times and later received some calls from community members who wanted to know the “consequences” of the Ethiopian decision.

While most of the Ethiopians in Qatar have been here for less than four years, Nebiyou is a veteran, having completed 10 years in this country. He said he had no clue as to what led his government to take such a decision nor about its consequences on Ethiopians living in Qatar. “This country is home to people from almost all countries in the world. Foreign workers are treated well here. Qatar has been very kind and considerate to expatriates. We hope the present difficult phase will pass and bilateral relations will bloom. We hope Ethiopians will continue to be welcome here,” Nebiyou, who works for a trading company said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Eritrean embassy termed the Ethiopian Woyanne action a bilateral issue between Qatar and Ethiopia. The deputy head of the Eritrean mission told Gulf Times that he would not like to comment. The US embassy also declined comment.