It's now official. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states have been giving asylum and support to millions of Syrian refugees. Saudi Arabia alone has accepted 2.5 million refugees since the conflict erupted in 2011. The Kingdom has also paid over $700 million in humanitarian aid to Syrians and set up clinics in various refugee camps in other countries, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) stated. That does not include the private support from charities and individuals in response to government calls. The country has also provided humanitarian aid through international relief organizations.
A Royal Decree has permitted 100,000 Syrian students to enter Saudi universities for a free education, not to mention others who entered public education at earlier stages.
The difference between what the Kingdom of Humanity is doing and other countries is that we don't brag about it, and refugees are not treated as such. Rather, they are integrated into the social fabric. To preserve their dignity and safety, they were given freedom of movement. The hundreds of thousands who chose to stay were given proper residency with the right to free health care, education and work.
SPA on Friday cited an official source in the Foreign Ministry as saying that the Kingdom had to clarify its role in helping refugees, in response to international charges that it was not doing enough.
While none of the Gulf Cooperation Council members—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 II, they have taken in millions of Syrians since the civil war began, just not as refugees.
Now let's compare numbers. Europe is complaining about thousands of refugees who chose to risk their lives to seek asylum in its rich, populous and powerful countries. America has just decided to take in some 10,000 refugees and less were invited to the UK. Other European countries may take hundreds each. None were taken into Russia and Iran, which ignited and prolonged the crisis by supporting the Syrian regime's war with its own people. The same could be said of China which voted with Russia on every Security Council resolution meant to resolve the conflict. The capital of each of these countries numbers more than the entire population of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, which already face serious demographic challenges.
Saudi Arabia has always been hospitable, hosting refugees since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Besides Palestinians, they came from as far as the Islamic republics victimized by Communist Soviet Union and China, such as Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Western China. Burmese, Yemenis, Afghanis, Iraqis and others have been welcomed in the Kingdom at various stages in recent history. In 1990 alone, we welcomed Kuwait's entire population, in addition to neighboring areas of Iraq.
In addition to Saudi Arabia, Syria's neighbors are taking millions of refugees. Turkey has taken 1,938,999, Iraq 249,463, Jordan 1,400,000 and Lebanon, with a population of 4 million, is hosting 1,113,941. Other refugees could have chosen to stay in these countries, but chose the West instead. Europe, America, Australia, Russia, China and other members of the “Rich and Powerful Club” should do more than offer lip service to refugees. Their media must focus on what their own nations should do rather than blaming and criticizing those who are already shouldering the greatest share of the responsibility.
The responsibility is not just to deal with the byproducts of a crisis, but to solve it at its roots. Syria's neighbors have been calling on the superpowers of the world for ages to help in protecting the Syrian population from a rogue regime which is intent on staying in power even if the price is the death of its population and the destruction of the entire nation. This has created a security vacuum and an inviting environment that terrorists have found irresistible.
The unholy alliance with Iran brought more militias in support of the regime. Now there is open sectarian strife among Muslims and an endless war with an ever-increasing number of players. Russia and China continued to block any UN resolution and America and the West did nothing about it. It was left to Syria's neighbors to pay the bills, and deal with everything the crisis produced—including terror and refugees.
Only now, that some of these refugees are knocking on the doors of the rich club have some people woken up. Unfortunately, instead of working on the source of the problem, and providing real—not showbiz—help, they have chosen to blame the victimized neighboring countries.
I would say to the hypocrites of the world, all you need to eliminate your refugee problem is to get rid of one person, so that millions will be able to return home. His name is Bashar Assad and his address is the Presidential Complex, Damascus!
Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @kbatarfi
