Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States Have Accepted Many Syrians
Many more Syrians are living in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States than at the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. The World Bank reports that 1,000,000 Syrians resided in Saudi Arabia in 2013, a whopping 795 percent increase over 2010. There were 1,375,064 Syrian migrants living in the Gulf States in 2013, a 470 percent increase over 2010. Excluding Oman, the 2013 Syrian population in every Gulf State has increased dramatically since right before the beginning of the Syrian civil war.
Syrian Population Residing in Each Country
2010
2013
Increase Since 2010
Saudi Arabia
111,764
1,000,000
794.75%
UAE
0
60,926
Kuwait
122,878
142,000
15.56%
Bahrain
1,254
5,614
347.87%
Qatar
0
12,320
Oman
0
0
Iraq
5,228
154,204
2849.58%
All Gulf
241,123
1,375,064
470.27%
Source: World Bank Bilateral Migration Indices, 2010 and 2013
These Syrians are technically not “refugees” because Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf States are not signatories to the 1951 UNHCR convention that created the modern international refugee system.
NGOs that work in the region are harshly critical of the Gulf States’ response to the Syrian crisis. Gulf State spokesmen also haven’t gotten their stories or numbers straight when explaining their policies. Nabil Othman, acting regional representative to the Gulf States at the UNHCR, said Saudi Arabia has accepted 500,000 Syrian refugees but called them “Arab brothe...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Alex Nowrasteh Source Type: blogs
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