Nothing new with national crew not getting, or rarely getting, flights to their home countries! I rarely flew to Europe. This has also been a great issue with QR about their crew jumping ship. It does save you a lot of hassle rather than resigning in DOH and going through what could be a painful procedure. I never experienced any trouble myself except the comment from a certain manager: "Not to worry. We were looking into getting rid of certain cabin crew members."
Not sure whether the poaching rule still excists! If it's gone, that's fantastic but I would advise all people to try EK and EY first because it will save you a lot of trouble. Working with QR could put you off flying but it will probably also be a great relief moving onto EK or EY and experience a more relaxed enviroment.
Something many of my batch mates and myself noticed: QR literally becomes your life!