This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available. Last updated March 9 at 12:57 a.m.
NU-Q will provide “voluntary relocation support” to employees and eligible family members who wish to leave the country, NU-Q Dean and CEO Marwan Kraidy announced in a Sunday email.
While any NU-Q community member could fill out a community check-in form expressing interest in voluntary relocation, the Sunday email did not specify if it would provide support to students seeking to leave.
Kraidy emphasized to students in a webinar Thursday that sheltering in place still remains the safest option for NU-Q, as “assisted departure” is dependent upon factors like safety considerations and Qatari airspace limitations.
“We’re far from declaring an ‘assisted departure,’” Kraidy said Thursday.
The University will coordinate with Global Rescue, a crisis response company, to provide ground transportation from Doha, Qatar to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for employees and eligible family members who choose to relocate, Kraidy wrote in the email. From Riyadh, they will be in charge of financing the rest of their trip, Kraidy wrote.
NU-Q community members with proper documentation who said they wanted to leave in the form will be contacted by Health, Safety, Security and Environment and Human Resources for further instructions.
“This will be the first relocation departure coordinated with Global Rescue,” Kraidy said in the email. “Depending on community needs and the evolving situation, additional departures may be arranged in the coming days.”
The email also pointed community members to embassies in Qatar, including the U.S. Embassy, for further “relocation assistance.”
Some embassies in Qatar announced they have begun assisted departures, including Canada, the U.S. and China. The Kazakh embassy in Qatar has evacuated many of their citizens, including students.
Northwestern University in Qatar is expected to operate remotely until the end of Ramadan, or anticipated March 19, according to an email sent to the NU-Q community Thursday. Students have been directed by national authorities to shelter-in-place since Saturday.
In the Zoom webinar Thursday, members of the NU-Q leadership team addressed questions regarding “assisted departure protocols,” community support measures and financial assistance for student workers.
When asked about institutional operations, Kraidy said the community is well-prepared, noting he doesn’t want people to “worry about those basics” and citing the University’s “robust” infrastructure.
Beyond providing daily Iftar meals, Kraidy said food pantries in both male and female dorms are fully stocked. He also said Qatar is well-stocked in vital commodities like water.
In response to questions about student well-being, Kraidy said the University is exploring additional activities such as yoga and games with the Qatar Foundation, a state-led organization that fully funds NU-Q’s campus.
In the webinar, Kraidy said the University is also actively looking into remote job opportunities for those relying on student employment to support their daily expenses. According to the Thursday email, such students with active employee appointments will receive an emergency payment of QAR 1,000 for immediate financial relief.
He also said students are free to move in and out of buildings, and that the University is collaborating with the Qatar Foundation to look into student access to facilities such as pools.
Kraidy said Associate Dean for Education Venus Jin is also working with a team to explore asynchronous modes of schooling to ensure learning is “as meaningful and productive as possible under the circumstances.”
He advised NU-Q community members to consistently check in with their embassies and follow Qatar’s Government Communications Office’s social media accounts.
Kraidy and his team are communicating with the campus community and “collaborating closely with other universities in Doha,” according to the Thursday email, which did not elaborate on the nature of these collaborations.
The Daily reported students at NU-Q said they could hear and see the missiles in the sky through the weekend and Tuesday.
Email: [email protected],
X: @Summer_Huu
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
— Qatar Foundation denies influencing NU decisions after Congressional hearing
