DESK REVIEW ON POPULATIONS AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS and over 4,000 Filipino workers were required to go on forced leave due to the pandemic.143 The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) recently evacuated more than 1,000 OFWs in distress in Qatar in three separate batches on chartered flights.144 Those evacuated have been stranded and displaced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is reported that DOLE has already assisted in the repatriation of 2,327 OFWs since the onset of the global pandemic this year. B.3.b. Citizenship Under Article 41 of Qatar’s Constitution, “Qatari nationality and the rules governing it shall be prescribed by law.”145 The acquisition of Qatari Nationality is set out in Law No. 38 of 2005 (repealing the Nationality Law previously in place, The Qatari Nationality Law No. 2 of 1961).146 Under Article 1(4), Qatari citizenship is conferred primarily on the basis of the jus sanguinis principle from the father. Article 1 of the Qatari Law No. 38 deems the following persons to be Qatari nationals: 1. Those residents of Qatar who have been resident in the country since 1930 and who maintained regular legal residence in the country until the enforcement date of Law No. 2 of 1961. 2. Any person who is proved to be of Qatari descent, albeit in the absence of the conditions set forth in the preceding sub-article, and additionally, any person in respect to whom an Emiri decree has been promulgated. 3. Persons to whom Qatari nationality has been reinstated in accordance with the provisions of law. 4. Any person born in Qatar or in a foreign country to a Qatari father in accordance with the preceding Articles. No provision is made for citizenship to be conferred on the children of Qatari mothers. Qatari Law No. 38 does provide for naturalization, including with “priority…given to those applicants who have a Qatari mother,”147 but this provides very limited effect because under Article 17 of the same Law, “Qatari nationality shall not be granted to more than 50 applicants in one calendar year.” Darryl John Esguerra, 1,645 Filipino workers in Qatar displaced due to COVID-19 pandemic, 5 May 2020, available at: https:// globalnation.inquirer.net/187484/1645-filipino-workers-in-qatar-displaced-due-to-covid-19-pandemic-envoy. 143 Department of Labor and Employment, News Release: DOLE repatriates 1,062 OFWs from Qatar, 11 August 2020, available at: https://www.dole.gov.ph/news/dole-repatriates-1062-ofws-from-qatar/. 144 145 Qatar: Constitution [Qatar], 2004, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/542973e30.html. Qatar: Law No. 38 of 2005 on the acquisition of Qatari nationality [Qatar], 30 October 2005, available at: https://www. refworld.org/docid/542975124.html. 146 147 UNHCR / April 2021 Ibid. at Article 2. 47