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

[Economy 52,859]

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.

they should take more? For a country of 30 million, 500k is a lot to accomodate already. Let other countries only accepting a few thousand do more

[lego 44,165]

they should take more? For a country of 30 million, 500k is a lot to accomodate already. Let other countries only accepting a few thousand do more

In the previous page the official statement says 2,5 million? I'm confused.

 

 

.....

 

UAE residency visas to more than 100,000 Syrians since 2011

Addressing refugee situation one of country’s foreign policy priorities

Gulf News Report

September 9, 2015

Dubai: The UAE has provided residency permits to more than 100,000 Syrians since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011.

A UAE statement carried by the Associated Press news agency explained that more than 242,000 Syrian nationals currently live in the country. The statement was in response to a question by the agency on the role of the UAE and other Gulf states in addressing the ongoing global refugee crisis. “The UAE has made it one of its foreign policy priorities to address this issue in a sustainable and humane fashion together with its regional and international partners,” the statement said.

In addition to the visa extensions, the UAE said it has provided more than $530 million in humanitarian aid and development assistance since 2012 in response to the Syrian crisis.

Part of the aid goes to fund one of three refugee camps in Jordan, which is sheltering more than half a million Syrian refugees, the AP reported.

http://m.gulfnews.com/news/uae/government/uae-residency-visas-to-more-than-100-000-syrians-since-2011-1.1581516