HRW accuses Qatar of discriminating in opposition to Baha’i minority

HRW’s deputy Middle East director Michael Page. Photo: X/@MichaelARPage

Human Rights Watch on Sunday (May 25, 2025) accused Qatar of discriminating in opposition to the Baha’i spiritual minority, citing arbitrary detentions and warning of a menace to the group’s survival within the Gulf state.

“The Baha’i group of Qatar has endured many years of presidency discrimination and intimidation, and authorities have persistently ignored group leaders’ repeated efforts to have interaction the federal government in dialogue and search redress,” mentioned Michael Page, HRW’s deputy Middle East director.

“This state-sponsored discrimination poses a menace to the very existence of the Baha’i group of Qatar,” he mentioned in a press release.

The Baha’i religion, whose international headquarters is in Israel, claims greater than seven million followers worldwide.

It is predicated on the teachings of Bahaullah, who was born in Iran in 1817 and is taken into account the prophet and founding father of their monotheistic religion.

Between 2003 and 2025, Qatar “deported as many as 14 members of the group for no obvious cause aside from people belonging to the Baha’i religion”, HRW mentioned.

It cited the case of an Iranian Baha’i born in Qatar who was compelled to go away in March 2025 underneath menace of expulsion for “disrupting public order”, and not using a written clarification.

The New York-based rights group additionally talked about Remy Rowhani, arrested and detained on April 28 over posts from an X account linked to the Baha’i group, underneath Qatar’s cybercrime regulation.

Mr. Rowhani, chair of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Qatar, had already been launched in January 2025 after serving a one-month jail sentence, HRW added.

The group mentioned Baha’is had additionally confronted job rejections and denial of official paperwork.