Journalist who reported on slaves in Qatar jailed

This is Abdullah Ibhais. He is a journalist and Jordanian national who blew the whistle on slavery and human trafficking in Qatar. For his actions, Ibhais was sentenced to five years in a Doha prison and was released after serving three years, in March of 2025.

Now, according to his family, Abdullah Ibhais was “abducted from the mosque” by the Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate (GID) in the capital city of Amman. This happens to be just two weeks before he is supposed to testify as a witness in a US District Court case concerning allegations of forced labour and human trafficking associated with the 2022 World Cup.

Qatar is one of the biggest perpetrators of human trafficking and the global slave trade, and most of the migrant slaves are from Africa and Southeast Asia. And yet, earlier this summer, Qatar announced its efforts to “partner” with Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the US.

Abdullah Ibhais has exposed the evil that is Qatar’s Kafala system, and has taken on a great risk to do so. Not only has Qatar silenced him and made him into a political prisoner (or worse), they deepen their duality by attempting to gain more legitimacy in the US, specifically by standing next to Black Americans. Qatar seeks profit from Black Americans in the US while standing on the necks of Black Africans in Qatar, and by doing the former, they distract from the latter.

This tactic of using the Black voice to bolster one’s public appearance is not new, nor is it exclusive to Qatar. It should, however, serve as a warning to Hampton, Xavier, Prairie View A&M, and any other HBCUs or Black-led entities considering partnering with the Qatari government. Qatari money always comes with strings, and those strings are attached to you shutting up about their slaves.