The decision by five Arab nations to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar and in some cases recall their citizens will have implications for branch campuses of foreign universities based there. Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen all said Monday they were cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar, and all of those countries except Egypt have ordered their citizens to leave Qatar, as The New York Times reported — raising questions of whether students from those countries enrolled in Qatar’s foreign branch campuses will have their degree studies interrupted, and of whether Qatar’s prized image as a relatively stable and secure destination for study and research in the Middle East could be under threat.
Based on what the Saudi and U.A.E. governments describe as Qatar’s support for terror and sectarian groups intent on destabilizing countries in the region, Qatar’s Arab neighbors have also closed off their airspace to Qataris and prohibited citizens of the Persian Gulf country from passing through their land and sea territories. The Republic of Maldives, a nation made up of about 1,200 islands in South Asia, also announced its decision to sever relations with Qatar on Monday.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/06/06/foreign-branch-campuses-qatar-monitor-major-diplomatic-rift
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