In August 1994 the British Army mounted its first ever Humanitarian Aid effort. I was the psychiatrist to this endeavour and this is a brief account of the stresses on those intimately involved with the medical aspects of ‘Operation Gabriel’.

Spain is a member state of the European Union, covering over 500,000 km2 and with a population of more than 40 million. However, taking into account only the gross national product, there is no doubt that Spain still belongs to the southern countries.

Qatar is an Arab country occupying a peninsula in the middle of the Western coast of the Gulf separating Persia from Arabia. It is an oil-exporting country with a population of about 400000, 70% of which live in the capital, Doha. The increase in wealth with the discovery of oil made it possible for many young members of extended families to move away and led to the emergence of nuclear families. In spite of this geographical separation, most nuclear families consider themselves extensions of their original extended families and maintain ties with them for the purpose of consultation, e.g. to arrange marriages, buffer disputes or mediate to secure benefits.