A post is being widely shared on social media claiming that Qatar and Kuwait governments have issued orders to expel all Swedish citizens from their countries in response to the Quran burning incident in Sweden. In the wake of several Islamic countries condemning the act of a protester burning a copy of the Quran outside Stockholm’s central Mosque on the first day of Eid Al Adha, on 28 June 2023, this post is going viral on social media. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Qatar and Kuwait announced expelling of Swedish citizens in response to the Quran burning incident in Sweden.
Fact: Both the Qatar and Kuwait governments issued statements condemning the burning of a Quaran copy outside Stockholm’s central Mosque in Sweden. However, Qatar and Kuwait governments did not issue any order announcing the expelling Swedish citizens from their countries. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
When we searched to check whether the Qatar and Kuwait governments had recently issued any orders or press notes announcing the expelling of Swedish citizens from their countries, we could not find any news report confirming this information.
Upon searching for further details, we found a statement issued by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs protesting the burning of Quran copies in Sweden. Condemning the Sweden government’s permission for extremists to burn Quran copies outside the central Mosque in Stockholm, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the heinous incident is an act of incitement and a serious provocation to the feelings of more than two billion Muslims in the world.
Further, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs warns that allowing repeated infringement of the Holy Qur’an under the pretext of freedom of expression fuels hatred and violence, threatens peaceful coexistence, and re- veals abhorrent double standards. The Ministry renews the State of Qatar’s total rejection of all forms of hate speech based on belief, race, or religion, and the involvement of sanctities in political disputes. It also warns that hate campaigns against Islam and Islamophobia discourse are a serious witness to the continuation of the systematic calls for targeting Muslims in the world.” However, the Qatar government in the statement emphasized their full support for the values of tolerance and coexistence, and their keenness to establish the principles of international peace and security through dialogue and mutual understanding. Qatar did not announce any such ban on Swedish citizens after the Quran burning incident in Sweden.
The Kuwait government too condemned the burning of Quaran in Sweden. The Kuwait government in their statement condemned the decision by the Swedish authorities to grant a permit to carry out such an act, as Muslims around the world celebrate Eid Al-Adha. The Kuwait government in the statement affirmed that the acts are completely unacceptable, contradict all moral and human principles, and said it will incite violence and terrorism. However, the Kuwaiti government did not announce any such order expelling Swedish citizens from their country. Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and many other Islamic countries condemned the burning of the Quran in Sweden.
To sum it up, Qatar and Kuwait Governments did not issue any orders to expel Swedish Citizens in response to the Quran burning in Sweden.
