While Europe is being overrun with refugees fleeing ISIS, the five Gulf States have taken ZERO refugees! How are we expected to take thousands of these people when these very wealthy Muslim States refuse to! Please look at the charts below and you’ll see the United States is far above everyone but where does it end? Communities in places like Minnesota have been overrun with Muslim refugees who haven’t assimilated. Other communities have busted their budgets paying for these refugees. How about jobs? There are 93 million Americans out of work right now. How can we support this when so many of our own people are hurting?
More than four million Syrians have been forced to escape the never-ending civil war ravaging their country and the barbaric terror group carving a bloody trail across the Middle East.
The vast majority live in overcrowded refugee camps in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq – all under threat from ISIS – and record numbers are making the perilously long journey to Europe.
Yet, as debate rages between politicians in Europe over how many they should take, nearby super-wealthy Gulf nations of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain have refused to offer sanctuary to a single Syrian refugee.
Amnesty International’s Head of Refugee and Migrants’ Rights, Sherif Elsayid-Ali, described their inaction as ‘shameful’.
He said: ‘The records of Gulf countries is absolutely appalling, in terms of actually showing compassion and sharing the responsibility of this crisis… It is a disgrace.’
Left with nothing, these refugees travel thousands of miles from the Middle East, through central Europe and across the Mediterranean to reach countries like Germany and Austria.
Others have tried to sneak on boats, trains and trucks crossing the Channel to the UK.
Almost 3,000 have died trying to reach Europe by sea this year, but hundreds more attempt the same life-threatening journey with their babies and young children every single night.
The tragic death of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi who drowned trying to reach the Greek island of Kos from Bodrum, Turkey, inspired a seismic shift in the European attitude towards the 313,000 people who have reached the continent this year.
None have been allowed to enter the (relatively) nearby Gulf nations, who all rank in the world’s top 50 GDPs and have a combined military budget of more than £65billion, according to Arab expert Sultan Sooud al-Qassemi.
He said: ‘The Gulf must realise that now is the time to change their policy regarding accepting refugees from the Syria crisis. It is the moral, ethical and responsible step to take.’
None of the Gulf countries signed the 1951 Refugee Convention which defines a refugee ‘outside the country of his nationality’ because of ‘fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality’.
Syrians can still apply for ‘costly’ tourist visas and work permits to enter wealthier Gulf nations but they are rarely granted, according to the BBC.
Gulf nations argue that accepting large numbers of Syrian refugees is a serious threat to the safety of its citizens because terrorists could hide themselves among civilians.
They have donated large sums of money to help homeless refugees. According to ReliefWeb, the UAE has funded an entire refugee camp in Jordan which shelters tens of thousands of Syrians.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have donated funds, food, shelter and clothing to Syrias in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.
In total, the Gulf states are thought to have given over £589m to the aid effort – but it is four times less than the United States has.
The UK has given £918million to help deal with the impact of violence in Syria and Prime Minister David Cameron today announced Britain is increasing its aid for refugees to more than £1billion.
Britain’s contribution is more than Saudi Arabia’s £387million , UAE’s £359million and Qatar’s £157,000 combined.
The Gulf region ‘has the capacity to quickly build housing for the refugees,’ according to the Managing Editor of the Quartz news website, Bobby Ghosh.
He wrote: ‘The giant construction companies that have built the gleaming towers of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh should be contracted to create shelters for the influx.
‘Saudi Arabia has plenty of expertise at managing large numbers of arrivals… There’s no reason all this knowhow can’t be put to humanitarian use.’
The majority of Syrian refugees have been taken in by Middle Eastern countries. Around 1.9million live in Turkish refugee camps, 1.1million in Lebanon, 629,000 in Jordan, 249,000 in northern Iraq and Egypt has housed 132,000, according to the United Nations.
But there was a massive surge in those trying to reach Europe this year and asylum applications had topped 300,000 by early August.
Read more: UK Daily Mail
