Qatar Row: Saudi Arabia Deports 15,000 Qatari Camels
Local Editor
After Saudi Arabia broke off relations with Qatar on June 5, Riyadh made clear it wanted nothing to do with its Arab neighbor.
Trade is cut off, planes headed to Qatar can't fly through Saudi airspace, and now, even Qatari camels in Saudi Arabia must go.
After the deportation order was handed down, thousands of camels were trapped at the border for days with little food or water.
"The camels were starving. Some of the males were fighting and in very bad condition," one Qatari camel owner told Reuters. "My brother still has 10 or 11 camels in Saudi Arabia."
Qataris were furious after photos of famished camels appeared in local newspapers on June 19. Authorities sent caravans of provisions to relieve the stranded animals and have now set up temporary shelters.
Qatar has little land to pasture its camels, which are a backbone of traditional culture and recreation there. In the past, many Qatari families have simply pastured their camels in Saudi Arabia, traveling back and forth across the border to tend to their livestock.
About 15,000 Qatari camels have now left Saudi Arabia.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
