'Bachelor ban': Qatar mulls family-only mall days likely to single out foreign labourers
Qatar's only directly elected body is to vote on introducing family-only days at major shopping malls in a move dubbed a “bachelor ban” that is likely to restrict access for foreign labourers.
What sounds like an innocuous idea is proving highly contentious and threatens once more to expose the 2022 football World Cup host's fraught relationship with its vast foreign workforce.
The proposal, which will be voted on by the Central Municipal Council (CMC) on December 1, would restrict entrance to the country's eight biggest malls to families only on one day each weekend, either Friday or Saturday.
It is a matter of singles and families from all nationalities, even single Qataris. We do not discriminate against anyone
Many blue-collared male workers who have moved to Qatar alone, sometimes leaving behind families, would in effect be banned from entering the nation's most popular malls, potentially on the only day of the week they get to relax.
The proposal is being championed by a CMC member, Nasser Bin Ibrahim al-Mohannadi, who claims the presence of the male labourers in the malls is intimidating for locals, especially women.
“Qatar is a family-based society, and it is the right of families to have a day especially for them,” he said.
“Malls are not just for shopping but also for entertainment and family gatherings.”