MikeLigalig.com

John Burgess, Former US diplomat with experience primarily in the Middle East

28k Views • John has 1,430+ answers and 26 endorsements in International Relations.

Primarily because those Gulf States don't want to take in refugees. They'd rather spend money to help the refugees... elsewhere. They may take in a few thousand for the sake of PR, but they just don't want them.

These countries are already under some stresses of their own. Saudi Arabia, for example, has severe unemployment. The Saudi gov't put the number around 7% (for men). Other say the number is closer to 35%.

These countries are also among the hardest in the world in which a foreigner can obtain citizenship. Even those foreigners whose fathers or grandfathers have been working in the country cannot obtain citizenship. They're not just going to open their doors for tens of thousands of unknowns.

Then there's the problem of the baggage those refugees are carrying, starting with the expectations of a status quo like they left in Syria, pre-civil war. Syrian culture is not Saudi culture. Syrian religious minorities would find no welcome anyway as only Muslims can be Saudis.

And then there's the fact that the Saudi government intensely dislikes the Syrian government. It considers it to be not only corrupt, but in the fist of both the Iranians and Russians. Neither of those are favorites of the Saudis. They and the UAE, for example, are busy bombing ISIS in Syria because they believe the Syrian government has failed its own people. The sooner al-Assad is gone, the happier the Gulf States will be. And then there won't be as much of a refugee crises.


for more answers: https://www.quora.com/Why-dont-Muslim-refugees-go-to-well-off-Middle-Eastern-countries-instead-of-going-to-Europe-Shouldnt-wealthy-Arab-countries-provide-more-help-How-many-refugees-are-wealthy-Arab-countries-taking

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=81181.0

One could still argue, however, that even Othman's figure isn't enough relative to the Saudi population of almost 31 million, especially given its role in funding and arming one side in the conflict. Lebanon has accepted 1.3 million refugees -- more than a quarter of its population.

There are reasons, however, why Saudi Arabia doesn't let in more people and why the United Arab Emirates prefer to pay to equip and maintain refugee camps in other countries, close to Syrian borders.


Generous to a point

An overwhelming majority of the displaced Syrians are Sunni Muslims. Of the paltry 1,519 Syrians the U.S. has taken in since 2011, 1,415 were Sunnis. The Saudi population is also predominantly Sunni. There's a catch, however: Many Sunni areas of Syria have served as a base for the Islamic State, which the Saudi and U.A.E. air forces are helping to bomb. Islamic State is hostile to the Saudi regime, and it's important to them whether the refugees are fleeing Islamic State or the bombings.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=81181.0

In Egypt, which initially welcomed Syrians, the regime of president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi suspects the refugees of having links to the Muslim Brotherhood, which Sisi has vowed to eradicate, so entry has become more difficult and there have been deportations.

In the Gulf states, potential problems are complicated by the already large expatriate populations: In some of them, locals are outnumbered by workers from neighboring Arab states, India and Southeast Asia.



Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=81181.0

In Europe, many opponents of immigration say Muslims should be kept out because they bring their wars and feuds with them. But even several million immigrants distributed across the European Union would account for less than 1 percent of the general population, and very few locals would take part in such imported conflicts. Jihadists posing as migrants might, of course, conduct terrorist attacks, but that risk exists without refugees. Besides, the political and humanitarian practices in Western societies, as well as a more even distribution of wealth, have a calming effect. Research has shown that first-generation immigrants in the U.S. commit fewer crimes than locals.

It would be nice if the Gulf states opened their doors wider to Syria's refugees. Yet Europeans and Americans shouldn't try to shift attention to the petro-states' perceived indifference, so that they can do less themselves. The West is much better equipped for the task of handling this human fallout from the catastrophe underway in the Middle East, and Europe needs the people who are coming in.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

bloomberg.net

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=81181.0