Syrians in Saudi Arabia

Syrians in Saudi Arabia
Total population
(2.5 Million[1])
Regions with significant populations
Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam
Languages
Arabic (Syrian Arabic), English
Religion
Christianity and Islam

Syrians in Saudi Arabia include immigrants from Syria to Saudi Arabia, as well as their descendants. The number of Syrians in Saudi Arabia is estimated at around 500,000[2] people in August 2015 and consists mainly of temporary foreign workers.[3] According to the UNHCR's representative for the Persian Gulf region, there are 500,000 Syrians in Saudi Arabia, but in "official documentation they are referred to as "Arab brothers and sisters in distress"" and not as Syrian nationals.[2]

Syrian refugees in Saudi Arabia

There are conflicting reports about the shelter provided to Syrians in Saudi Arabia. As of September 2015, the flow of refugees to European nations has increased significantly and there is a rise in criticism of Muslim nations allegedly accepting few refugees.The Syrian civil war forced millions to flee their homes in search for safety. Saudi Arabia is the richest country for Arab Muslims and it became the center for criticism for not offering their land to Syrian refugees. It only offers resettlement for asylum seekers whose families already reside in Saudi Arabia. However, it had issued 100,000 residencies for the people who wished to stay in the kingdom. The kingdom has supported Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon[4]

Conflicting version of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has said "it has in fact given residency to 100,000 people as war rages in their country. An official from Saudi Arabia’s ministry of foreign affairs, cited by the official Saudi press agency, said that Saudi Arabia "made it a point not to deal with them as refugees" but had issued residency permits to 100,000 Syrians who wished to stay in the kingdom."[5]

Total number of Syrians in Saudi Arabia

The CIA Fact book estimated that as of 2013 foreign nationals living in Saudi Arabia made up about 21% of the population. Total number of Syrians in Saudi Arabia was 100,000 before the start of Syrian Civil War [10]

Saudi Arabia, like all of the Arab Gulf states, is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention.[11] According to a Saudi official, Saudi Arabia had issued residency permits to 100,000 Syrians.[12] The BBC reported that "most successful cases are Syrians already in Gulf states extending their stays, or those entering because they have family there."[3]

Syrians in Saudi Arabia include migrants from Syria to Saudi Arabia, as well as their descendants. The number of Syrians in Saudi Arabia is estimated at around 500,000[2] people in August 2015 and consists mainly of temporary foreign workers.[3] According to the UNHCR's representative for the Persian Gulf region, there are 500,000 Syrians in Saudi Arabia, but in "official documentation they are referred to as "Arab brothers and sisters in distress"" and not as Syrian nationals.[2]

Refugees or workers

There are reports that Saudi Arabia has offered resettlement only to Syrian migrants that had a family in the kingdom, and has an estimated number of Syrian migrants and foreign workers that reaches 100,000 living with their families.[12]

There is no evidence to suggest that Saudi government has in fact given shelter to actual refugees who are without Visa and Passports. It is to be noted that Saudi Arabia is not a signatory to the U.N. Refugee Convention.

View of international community

The BBC reported that "despite their proximity to Syria, no Syrians claiming asylum have been taken in by Saudi Arabia or other wealthy Gulf countries."[13]

The BBC also reported that "most successful cases are Syrians already in Gulf states extending their stays, or those entering because they have family there."[3] No Gulf country has signed the UN Convention on Refugees, which sets standards for the treatment and rights of those fleeing to a new country."[12]

Though some may say that Saudi Arabia is not welcoming Syrian refugees there are reports that they have welcomed 500,000 Syrians into the country at the lowest estimate (the highest from the Saudi officials is 2.5 million). Even at the lowest estimate, if these Syrians alone were counted as refugees instead of 'Arab brothers and sisters in distress', this would make Saudi Arabia the tenth largest refugee hosting country in all but name according to the UNHCR in 2015, ahead of every Western nation save Germany (at no 7 as of 2015, with the rest of the list dominated by other Middle Eastern and African countries). Saudi Arabia of course also accepts other fleeing migrants from abroad, though once again they are not counted as refugees due to the UN technicality, such as a million Yemenis according to Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin. Just these two contributors alone would put Saudi Arabia as the worlds' 4th largest refugee hosting country at the lowest estimates, behind only Turkey, Pakistan and Jordan [14] [15]

A rare few Western outlets have stood up and criticized the international community for saying that Saudi Arabia has taken no refugees. Anhvinh Doanvo of the Huffington Post has claimed that outlets in the US have exploited a technicality used by the UN to count Syrian refugees, stating that the UN's claim of 500,000 Syrian refugees currently residing in Saudi Arabia is more plausible.[16]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ↑ Anhvinh Doanvo (23 September 2015). "Western Media's Miscount of Saudi Arabia's Syrian Refugees". huffingtonpost.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Donna Abu-Nasr (4 September 2015). "Syria’s Refugees Feel More Welcome in Europe Than in the Gulf". Bloomberg.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Migrant crisis: Why Syrians do not flee to Gulf states". BBC News. 2 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Migrant crisis: Why Syrians do not flee to Gulf states". BBC News.
  5. ↑ "Saudi Arabia says criticism of Syria refugee response 'false and misleading'". the Guardian.
  6. ↑ "Saudi Arabia denies not giving Syrians sanctuary". aljazeera.com.
  7. ↑ "2.5m Syrians hosted by KSA since uprising". arabnews.com.
  8. ↑ "KSA already home to 500,000 Syrians". arabnews.com.
  9. ↑ "Migrant crisis: Why the Gulf states are not letting Syrians in". BBC News.
  10. ↑ "Arab versus Asian migrant workers in the GCC countries" (PDF). p. 10.
  11. ↑ "The Arab world’s wealthiest nations are doing next to nothing for Syria’s refugees". The Washington Post. 2 September 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 "Saudi Arabia says criticism of Syria refugee response 'false and misleading'". The Guardian. 12 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "Demand to open doors to Syrians spreading online". BBC News. 2 September 2015.
  14. ↑ "KSA already home to 500,000 Syrians". www.arabnews.com. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  15. ↑ "KSA shelters 1 million Yemenis". http://www.arabnews.com/news/843191. External link in |website= (help)
  16. ↑ Doanvo, Anhvinh (September 23, 2015). "Western Media's Miscount of Saudi Arabia's Syrian Refugees". Huffington Post. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
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