Qatar has been subjected to an illegal siege by four neighbouring countries for almost two years now.

While Qatar has tried repeatedly to peacefully end the crisis through dialogue, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have shown no signs of letting up. One of the biggest casualties of the unrest has been families on both sides of the conflict.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament heard, for the first time, testimonies by two of the victims of the unjust blockade imposed on Qatar, reported Gulf Times.

Testimonies were also heard from three other human rights violations victims, who suffered at the hands of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE.

The Qatari nationals who appeared before the EU parliament were Dr Wafaa Yazidi, a victim of family disintegration and student Jawahar Mohamed Al Meer, who was expelled from Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi.

Khadija Genghis, the fiancee of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Briton Matthew Hedges, who was jailed in Abu Dhabi and sentenced to life imprisonment before his subsequent release after the British authorities intervened and Ali Al Aswad, a member of the Bahraini parliament sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment, were the other three people to testify.

The historic occasion was attended by members of the European Parliament as well as international media.

The victims demanded EU governments and the EU Parliament to adopt a stronger and more effective stand to stop grave human rights violations that have affected thousand of citizens and residents of Qatar since the blockade began, according to Qatar Tribune.

They also called on EU lawmakers to take tough stand against the siege countries which have detained and held several people in their prisons. 

Dr Yazidi, who is a divorced Qatari woman whose children are Bahraini, can no longer speak to family members in Bahrain.

The blockading countries have introduced laws that prevent the show of sympathy with Qataris, even within the same family. She noted that the blockade has dispersed families, in addition to the prevention of Hajj and Umrah by the Saudi authorities.

Al Meer spoke about her suffering after being expelled from Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi, despite her academic superiority, on the pretext of severing political relations with Qatar.

She expressed confidence that she will find those who would listen to her and that the European Parliament can do something to stop the suffering of thousands of victims like her.

Genghis, Khashoggi's fiancee, has been suffering since the assassination and regretted that Western governments and heads of states did not take any action. Hedges called for Abu Dhabi to be classified as an unsafe environment for international students.

Al Aswad called on the European Parliament and the international community to act and pressure the Bahraini government to shoulder its responsibility towards human rights activists.

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Cover Image Credit: Gulf Times