Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Qatar H E Jon Wilks has expressed confidence that Qatar will host a successful World Cup and the tournament will be an eye opener for the world to know the ground situation in the country.
He said the UK has partnered with Qatar in different areas including business, security and defence, and culture and diplomacy to make the World Cup a successful tournament, which is expected to leave a legacy for the future.
“We want to be a partner to make the tournament safe and successful. We are helping Qatar in various ways like including football police will be here to understand the crowd, work with the Qataris to deescalate any situations. We have the joint typhoon squad arrived in recent weeks that will be part of the air defence of Qatar,” he said while speaking to media at his residence yesterday.
“We’re excited. We want this (World Cup) to be something successful for Qatar; successful for the Arab World and for the Islamic world; and successful for our relationship with Qatar and the region. We want our teams to be successful and we want our fans and visitors to have a great time,” he added. The Ambassador said over the past 12 years Qatar has made major efforts in preparation for the World Cup and the country has made considerable progress in reforms, mainly in labour rights.
“You’ll all be aware that in many countries, particularly European countries, there’s criticism of human rights issues, workers rights…to an extent women’s rights more generally."
“We take these files seriously as a country, as government, as an embassy. We’re working with Qatar on these. Many of you will know that Qatar has progressed in labour rights in particular,” said Wilks.
“So what I want is for people who come to this country with their issues and their concerns, to also see full picture of the development of Qatar. Then they make up their minds. They don’t need to listen to me. They can talk to Qataris, they can talk to residents, they can talk to whoever they want to talk to, and they can make up their own minds. I’m confident that people coming to Qatar for the first time will leave with a better idea of it than when they came,” he added.
The British Embassy in Doha will organise many cultural events on the Doha Corniche during the World Cup. The activities will highlight the culture and traditions of the UK and represent England, Scotland Wales and Northern Island. A British cultural festival will also be held from November 21 to 28. It will conclude on the eve of the match between England and Wales.
