Pressure continues to mount on Saudi Arabia to take Syrian refugees after it was revealed that the Middle Eastern country has 100,000 air conditioned tents that could house more than 3 million people, sitting empty.
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International anger is palpable. But for Sultan Ali Arada, the Yemeni governor of Marib who backs the exiled government, the Gulf-led military campaign is a noble gesture of solidarity by stronger, richer Arab states with a weaker cousin facing an Iranian-backed plot to destroy it.
Saudi Arabia maintains that to date it has settled Syrians in the country, just not as refugees and as such cannot quantify the exact amount.
But the kingdom recently refuted all accusations, saying reports about its response to the Syrian refugee crisis are “false and misleading”, and it has in fact given residency to 100,000 Syrian refugees, both before and after the civil war in their homeland. Ten million expatriates work in Saudi Arabia, which has a local population of 30 million, while foreigners outnumber nationals in UAE five to one.
Saudi Arabia is defending its record more forcefully.
Saudi Arabia “will always remain at the forefront of countries supporting the brotherly Syrian people and will not accept any overbidding in this matter or questioning its positions”, said Adel Altoraifi, the minister of culture and information, as reported by Al-Arabiya, a Saudi-owned news outlet. Qatar says it has provided $1.6 billion. The Syrian refugees are generally skilled and can certainly contribute to responding to the gulf states’ market needs. According to a Bahraini analyst who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “Geography matters”.
The glitzy skyscrapers and 21st century comforts of Dubai feel very distant from the barren sand dunes of Marib in central Yemen, the latest strategic prize in a regional power struggle pitting the wealthy Gulf Arab states against Iran.
“In relation to other states, US, and Europe, the Gulf has done more than its fair share-much more than has been advertised”, said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a UAE professor of political science and commentator. It is poor form in Arab culture to praise what is essentially a humanitarian obligation.
Unlike EU nations none of the Arab states have signed the U.N. Convention on Refugees, an accord standardizing the level of treatment of people fleeing to new countries and therefore are under no obligation to take in those in need. “(Saudi Arabia) made it a point not to deal with them as refugees”, he said. Treating refugees as “guests” carries an element of prestige for the host country.
The Emiratis are part of thousands of Saudi and UAE forces fighting on the ground in Yemen to occupy and take control of the capital city, which has been under the control of popular committees, Ansarullah movement and its allies since last year. The Saudis classified them as “Arab brothers and sisters in distress” rather than refugees or Syrians. It is very likely that some of them have controversial political allegiances.
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Fahad Nazer said those concerns exist, but with a caveat.
