Precarious Legal Status and ‘Reactive Transnationalism': The Case of Baloch in Qatar

Abstract

Abstract Despite the long existence of Baloch in the Gulf region, and Qatar, in particular, scholarly works on their lives and migration experience is scarce. This study is based on long-term ethnographic observation and semi-structured interviews conducted in Fall 2020 in Freej Al Baloush, the Baloch Neighborhood, a large residential area located in Abu Hamour, Doha, where a concentration of Baloch from low socioeconomic backgrounds reside since 1980s. Using data from these interviews and my own experience as a member of the community, as well as drawing on existing literature on different migrant communities in the Gulf and relevant studies on transnationalism, I address how the legal status of the Baloch in Qatar, as temporary residents, affects their transnational lives. Iran, and the province of Balochistan, have become a back-up plan for Baloch who always live with the worry of losing their residency rights and being deported from Qatar. This is a form of ‘reactive transnationalism’, cross-border engagement as a result of negative integration. One of the most visible ways that they cope with temporariness, legal vulnerability, and precarious lives is through material investment, mainly building houses and buying property and land, which many of them lack in Qatar. While Qatar’s regulated ownership policies allow residents to purchase land in specific areas, the country’s high property costs and living expenses make buying property difficult for many long-term residents with low socioeconomic status, including the Baloch. Although the concept of reactive transnationalism has not been studied extensively and is loosely defined, the case of Baloch in Qatar offers important insights into the impact of socioeconomic status, gender, family networks, and legal integration on transnationalism.