Qatar’s government has discriminated against Bahá'ís in Qatar for decades, with hundreds of people harmed by a pattern of punishment and discriminatory policies. The government has deported as many as 14 members of the group for no apparent reason other than individuals belonging to the Bahá'í faith in cases Human Rights Watch documented from 2003 to 2025. Qatari authorities have also previously terminated the employment of a Bahá'í member and refused to grant a certificate of good conduct, which is required for employment in Qatar, to four members of the group.

Islam is Qatar’s official religion. And while the Qatari constitution guarantees freedom to practice religious rites, Qatari authorities have discriminated against the Bahá'í minority in the country in administrative and legal matters. A high-ranking Qatari religious figure told one of the now-deported Bahá'ís that if he announced his conversion to Sunni Islam, he could “make the deportation go away.”

In addition to the deportations, officials have delayed the community’s attempts to reestablish an existing Bahá'í cemetery and refused to accept marriage certificates issued by elected Bahá'í institutions in Qatar. Bahá'ís have also faced discrimination elsewhere in the region, including the crime against humanity of persecution in Iran and other forms of repression in Egypt and Yemen. [News Release 25 May 2025]