Coronavirus: Canadian professors in Qatar told they may be fired for returning home

Qatar's coronavirus policy has come under scrutiny after several Doha-based Canadian professors were told they might lose their jobs if they left the country, according to reports from CBC News on Friday.

Several Canadian professors at the College of the North Atlantic (CNA) in Doha were sent a letter from CNA president Elizabeth Kidd saying that they could be fired if they do not return in time for the new academic year set to begin in September, reported CBC.

“If you make the decision to leave the country and do not or cannot return to work when expected, your employment agreement may be terminated,” the letter said.

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The letter had reportedly troubled many professors who had hoped to leave the country, which has become a new hotspot for COVID-19 and has reported one of the highest per capita rate of infections in the world.

“Living in a country that has, for weeks, had the highest per capita number of positive COVID cases in the world is extremely stressful, and several CNA-Q employees are anxious to leave for summer,” an employee told CBC News.

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Qatar has so far reported over 85,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and a total of 93 virus-related deaths.

The pandemic forced the college to close down the campus and resort to online classes, but professors were told that they would be returning to the college for the new academic year.

If they decide to travel back to their home countries, employees were told that they would need to book a room at a designated quarantine hotel where they will have to stay for 14 days when they return to Qatar.

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