short film clips do indeed originate with the family.35 According to unconfirmed information received by the authors, the family now resides in a house paid for by a private charity, which reportedly also supports their basic needs. 45. It nevertheless appears that the government of Qatar continues to discriminate against members of the Ghufran who returned after 2006, including those who returned in the past year. This issue remains an open wound for Qatar: in September 2018, a delegation of 54 members of the alGhufran tribe held a demo by the ‘broken chair’ at the Palais des Nations and - according to coverage afforded the event in UAE media, they complained of the stripping of their nationality by Qatar, while it had been handed out to what was termed ‘violent extremists’ from Egypt, Syria, Libya and Iraq.36 46. The diplomatic crisis with GCC countries combined with Qatari women’s inability to confer nationality on children and spouses on an equal basis with Qatari men resulted in threats to family unity and other hardships. Children and spouses of Qatari women who are denied access to Qatari citizenship and who hold the nationality of other GCC countries feared expulsion from Qatar or an inability to return to the country. One Qatari woman married to a Bahraini man reported that her family could not visit her husband’s relatives, stating: “We are afraid to try and go to Bahrain because my husband and children might be banned from coming back to Qatar.”37 In order to address the threat of family separation caused by the diplomatic crisis and the inability of Qatari women to confer nationality on an equal basis with men, the government implemented a new policy permitting permanent residency status to the children and spouses of Qatari women.38 Though a positive development for affected families, the children and spouses of Qatari women continue to be denied access to a range of rights and privileges as a result of Qatari women’s inability to confer nationality on an equal basis with men. 35 To the best of the authors’ knowledge, Qatar has not stated why it has not restored citizenship to members of the family, despite having re-admitted them in 2017. We would reject an explanation that they do not yet fulfil the conditions set out in Article 7 of 2005 Nationality Act, which states that “[...] nationality may be reinstated, by an Emiri decision, to such person who proves to be of Qatari origin in accordance with sub-articles 1.1, 1.2, and 1.4 of Article 1 of this Law, provided that: (1) The person has resided in Qatar for at least three consecutive years; (2) The person has a lawful means of income sufficient to meet his needs and (3) The person has a reputation for honesty and is of good reputation” as these constitute unfair conditions following an arbitrary decision to revoke their citizenship in the first place. 36 The National (UAE) - Qatari tribe holds sit-in at UN HQ to protest Doha 'crimes' / The Al Ghufran tribe called on the international community to help their cause, 19 September 2018; accessible at: https://www.thenational.ae/world/gcc/qataritribe-holds-sit-in-at-un-hq-to-protest-doha-crimes-1.772013 37 Al Jazeera - Siege of Qatar 'arbitrarily splitting up families', 14 December 2017, available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/siege-qatar-arbitrarily-splitting-families-171214163542163.html 38 Bloomberg - Qatar Is First Gulf State to Offer Expat Permanent Residency, September 5, 2018 available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-05/qatar-is-first-gulf-nation-to-grant-expats-permanent-residency 10