Hugo Martinez, the Salvadoran foreign minister, visited Qatar this week in order to establish greater relations between the countries. One topic discussed in particular was the fate of over 200,000 undocumented Salvadoran people who will be deported from the United States by September 2019 following the removal of their temporary protected status (TPS). The Salvadoran Government is hopeful that Qatar will accept these migrants temporarily to work in their country.
The agreement has yet to establish the amount of workers that can participate in the program as well as the amount of time they will be granted employment in the country. However, Martinez is hopeful and promises to send only the most qualified people to work in sectors of engineering, construction, and agriculture. The article notes that Qatar is even offering to invest in a health service program for El Salvador in order to boost their population’s health and economy. Additionally, both countries are hoping to establish an air route in order for Qatar to expand its flights to Latin America.
It intrigues me that instead of welcoming its people back into the country, El Salvador is asking for Qatar to take those who are deported from the United States. However, I believe the goal of this is for El Salvador to reap the benefits in the future, when their workers come back to the country filled with fresh ideas and ready to create new jobs to improve the economy.
The article does not detail whether or not the people deported from the United States will have a choice to go to Qatar or return to their homeland, so it will be interesting to hear more details of this agreement. I don’t understand the reasoning behind Qatar’s desire to provide funds for health care, unless it is a way to establish a greater influence in Latin America. It will be interesting to see how the United States responds to this; though relations with Qatar are not tense at the moment, it does not serve in their interest to have Middle East influence in their backyard.
Perhaps this deal will cause President Trump to evaluate the TSP program or maybe the United States will simply ignore this agreement between the two countries. Whatever the case, both El Salvador and Qatar will benefit from whatever agreement they establish. It will be interesting to see whether or not their agreement will officially establish employment for Salvadoran migrants.