500,000+ Syrians in Saudi Arabia, 100,000 in UAE; no refugee policy

[lego 44,165]

so I've been doing a little research and feel like this should have own thread

 

This information is from Napoleon, American rapper from Outlawz, a convert who lives in KSA.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_(rapper)

 

500,000 ‪#‎Syrians‬ living in ‪#‎Saudi‬ since the start of the war.

Mohammed Khalid Alyahya, Associate Fellow At the Saudi Arabian King Faisal Centre For Research And Islam Studies

On why Saudi Arabia hadn't taken in any Syrian refugees :

"Zero is a very inaccurate number because Saudi Arabia doesn't have a refugee policy. There are 500,000 Syrians in Saudi Arabia that have been given visas, 3000 of which, based on a recent royal decree, have been given scholarships to attend university inside the kingdom. They are also given healthcare for themselves and their families but they are called visitors, they are not called refugees. Many of them are there to visit their families, who already live in Saudi Arabia. I can't speak to other Gulf countries but the number in Saudi Arabia is 500,000. We can argue that this number is LOW but I would say the entire international community has done very little to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people."

He then adds :

"This week we have seen a lot of focus on the refugee crisis after there was a spike in the number of refugees coming into Europe and after we saw these heart-breaking photographs of drowned civilian children and civilians but the refugee crisis has been going on for 4 years. It's as if people have forgotten Syria until that one picture of the child surfaced."

"25 million refugees, that's where we are headed right now. There is no concreate plan of action to stop the root of the problem which is Bashar Al Assad."

The reporter, Lyse Doucet, than asks : "It's not going to end tomorrow, the war, and if there is this growing sense that there's a short-term emergency crisis on the humanitarian side, would Saudi Arabia consider treating some the Syrians as refugees because of course there's a different status if you're a refugee than if you're a student for example. Refugees would imply whole families would come in and would be in certain rights."

Mohammed Khalid Alyahya replies "Whole families have come in and they have been given visas and their statuses have been formalised in Saudi Arabia. Just the fact that they're not called refugees doesn't mean that they aren't refugees. Putting the number at zero is extremely misleading. It just ignores the fact that there are 500,000 Syrians in Saudi Arabia as a result of this war that WEREN'T in Saudi Arabia before

it." 

https://m.facebook.com/lifeofanoutlaw/posts/10153430549343673

 

So the recent news were misleading. Although I think they should take more.

[Alii 2,039]

I remember there was many when I was there. Most of them are the ones who were able to work imo. 

[lego 44,165]

I remember there was many when I was there. Most of them are the ones who were able to work imo. 

I actually read that many want to, but are not allowed to work. They live of donations. I don't get the whole system.

[Alii 2,039]

I actually read that many want to, but are not allowed to work. They live of donations. I don't get the whole system.

Saudi Arabia takes many foreign worker tho. Most of them are from Syria and Egypt, India for jobs that don't need high education. 

This is how it had always been before Syria became a mess. The situation is still shameful. They are just trying to clear their image. 

[lego 44,165]

Saudi Arabia takes many foreign worker tho. Most of them are from Syria and Egypt, India for jobs that don't need high education. 

This is how it had always been before Syria became a mess. The situation is still shameful. They are just trying to clear their image. 

Yeah it's true but it's normal when headlines everywhere say "zero refugees!!", if these 500000 weren't there before the war, it's obvious they fled from there when they could. How could they now go, via Iraq? 

I know they have foreign workers, many from the West too. I know about some nurses.

[uo111 5,282]

They have to have family or work visa's. Which means they are only taking them if they won't be a burden. I mean, there is a reason they don't have refugee status, and it's not because they are incapable of labeling them refugee's.

Saudi is not as bad as the other Gulf states, but they are far from good.

[Alii 2,039]

Yeah it's true but it's normal when headlines everywhere say "zero refugees!!", if these 500000 weren't there before the war, it's obvious they fled from there when they could. How could they now go, via Iraq? 

I know they have foreign workers, many from the West too. I know about some nurses.

Well, technically, zero refugees.

It has always been normal for them to take highly educated people from other Arabian countries.

I'm waiting for them to take the poor ones and resettle them.  

[lego 44,165]

They have to have family or work visa's. Which means they are only taking them if they won't be a burden. I mean, there is a reason they don't have refugee status, and it's not because they are incapable of labeling them refugee's.

Saudi is not as bad as the other Gulf states, but they are far from good.

They allowed them to stay tho. Anyone else from other countries whose visa is expired would be deported if they find out. 

 

[lego 44,165]

Well, technically, zero refugees.

It has always been normal for them to take highly educated people from other Arabian countries.

I'm waiting for them to take the poor ones and resettle them.  

They are not all highly educated. Some of them came with Hajj visas and were allowed to stay. 

[Whispering 18,865]

Why can't they go through Jordan to get to Saudi Arabia? Why aren't refugees from the overpopulated camps in Jordan flooding into SA? Is their border protected to the extent where people can't sneak in? 

If Turkey can take a million refugees and places like Lebanon and Jordan can take 700 to over a million, a country as rich as Saudi Arabia should take three or four times more than the legal workers they have allowed in over the last four to five years. At the very least, they could set up camps and give hundreds of thousands safety from the war. They have the money to provide for these people! 

[TiphEret 1,320]

Wow that's a lot still , 500 000! When you know around 4 million are displaced

[uo111 5,282]

They allowed them to stay tho. Anyone else from other countries whose visa is expired would be deported if they find out. 

 

I think that's a good thing that those people got out, but you can't really applaud Saudi Arabia for doing something that costs them little to nothing when they have the means to do so much more. I wouldn't condemn a country for not taking in refugees because I can see many reasons why they wouldn't want too. But the moral argument does have it's merits and Saudi's defense is pretty weak. I think it would be better to say nothing.

[lego 44,165]

I think that's a good thing that those people got out, but you can't really applaud Saudi Arabia for doing something that costs them little to nothing when they have the means to do so much more. I wouldn't condemn a country for not taking in refugees because I can see many reasons why they wouldn't want too. But the moral argument does have it's merits and Saudi's defense is pretty weak. I think it would be better to say nothing.

It's not about applauding, it's about setting things straight. 'Taking zero refuges' are false and misleading headlines. It doesn't matter which way these people entered the country, what visas they used, the fact remains that they are all refugees and they were allowed to bring their families and stay indefinitely.

They don't have refugee policy, their whole system is different, extending visas and staying to live there is not easy for everyone.

Also they are completely right when they say this conflict and refugee crisis started 4 years ago and Europe and rest of the world just woke up now, when they saw that poor baby on the beach.

It's like they weren't aware or didn't care, until it started to affect them, until refugees started to flee to Europe. Which is sad.

 

[uo111 5,282]

It's not about applauding, it's about setting things straight. 'Taking zero refuges' are false and misleading headlines. It doesn't matter which way these people entered the country, what visas they used, the fact remains that they are all refugees and they were allowed to bring their families and stay indefinitely.

They don't have refugee policy, their whole system is different, extending visas and staying to live there is not easy for everyone.

Also they are completely right when they say this conflict and refugee crisis started 4 years ago and Europe and rest of the world just woke up now, when they saw that poor baby on the beach.

It's like they weren't aware or didn't care, until it started to affect them, until refugees started to flee to Europe. Which is sad.

 

Most of those countries have taken in zero, and the articles say that Saudi claims to have taken in 500,000, so most of them aren't being misleading.
More importantly, the distinction does matter. Refugee's don't have a place to stay, they can't get work, they have a hard time getting food. Those people are called "visitors" for a reason. Saudi simply isn't taking anyone that would burden them. And as far as I know, they aren't even claiming to... So I'm not sure why you are trying to make it seem like that.

 

Of course no one wants to help until they have too, that's just the cold hard truth. But it definitely has had attention for a long time now, I think secretly everyone was just hoping it would go away.

[lego 44,165]

Saudi Arabia denies not giving Syrians sanctuary

Foreign ministry official says nation has received nearly 2.5 million Syrians since 2011, amid criticism of its efforts.
Saudi Arabia has defended its efforts to aid Syrians fleeing the conflict in their country, following criticism that Gulf countries have not been taking in enough refugees since the crisis broke out there more than four years ago.
The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Friday cited an official source in the foreign ministry as saying the kingdom wanted to make clear its role in helping refugees in light of charges it was doing nothing.
The official said it was “important to clarify these efforts with facts and numbers in response to media reports, which included false and misleading accusations about the kingdom”.
None of the six states that form the Gulf Cooperation Council, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, has signed the UN convention on refugees, which has governed international law on asylum since World War Two.
But Gulf states say they have taken in hundreds of thousands of Syrians since the civil war there began in 2011, just not as refugees.

The source said Saudi Arabia had received nearly 2.5 million Syrians since the conflict erupted.
“[Saudi Arabia] was keen to not deal with them as refugees, or to put them in refugee camps, to preserve their dignity and safety, and gave them complete freedom of movement.”
“[Saudi Arabia] gave whoever chose to stay in the kingdom, which are in the hundreds of thousands, proper residency … with all the rights that are included like free health care and engaging in the workforce and education.”
The kingdom has also provided about $700m in humanitarian aid to Syrians and had set up clinics in various refugee camps, the statement by the SPA said.
The official source said more than 100,000 Syrian students were receiving free education in the kingdom.
The country has also provided humanitarian aid to countries hosting Syrian refugees and through international relief organisations.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/saudi-arabia-denies-giving-syrians-sanctuary-150912050746572.html

 

http://www.was.sa/1397404

Google Translate:
Foreign Ministry official source said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were not willing to talk about their efforts in support of the Syrian brothers in their plight excruciating, because it is since the beginning of the crisis has dealt with the subject of religious and purely humanitarian premises, and not for the purpose brag or media review, but he saw the importance of clarifying These efforts facts and figures in response to media reports, and its contents from false and misleading accusations about the Kingdom.

The official source said that the actions taken by the kingdom, which was the following:
- Received the kingdom since the outbreak of the crisis in Syria, nearly two million and a half million Syrian citizen, made a point of not dealing with them as refugees, or put them in refugee camps, in order to preserve the dignity and integrity, and gave them complete freedom of movement, and awarded for those who wanted to stay were in the kingdom who report hundreds thousands, accommodation systemic like the rest of residents, with all the consequent rights to free health care and to engage in the labor market and education, as was clearly demonstrated at the royal order issued in 2012, which included the admission of Syrian students visiting the kingdom in general education schools, which It embraced more than 100 thousand Syrian student to free school, according to government statistics Nirvana campaign.

- Saudi efforts to receive and host the Syrian brothers after the humanitarian tragedy in their country is not limited, but extended its efforts to include the support and care of millions of Syrians refugees to neighboring countries to their homeland in Jordan, Lebanon and other countries. And it included efforts to provide humanitarian assistance in coordination with the governments of their host countries, as well as with international humanitarian relief organizations, whether through physical or in-kind support.

 

 

interesting video