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Syrians in Saudi Arabia include migrants from Syria to Saudi Arabia, as well as their descendants. The number of Syrians in Saudi Arabia is estimated at around 500,000 people in August 2015 and consists mainly of temporary foreign workers. According to the UNHCR's representative for the Gulf region, there are 500,000 Syrians in Saudi Arabia, but in "official documentation they are referred to as “Arab brothers and sisters in distress”" and not as Syrian nationals.

Syrian refugees in Saudi Arabia

The issue of Syrian refugees in Saudi Arabia is a hot topic of debate in media. Media has criticized Arab nations for not accepting refugees in their country. There are conflicting reports about the shelter to Syrians in Saudi Arabia. As of September 2015, flow of refugees increased to European nations, the criticism of Muslim nations not offering their land or accepting very few refugees grow. Saudi Arabia is the richest country for Arab Muslims and it became center for criticism for not offering their land to Syrian refugees.

Conflicting version of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has said it has in fact given residency to 100,000 people as war rages in their country. An official from Saudi Arabia’s ministry of foreign affairs, cited by the official Saudi press agency, said that Saudi Arabia “made it a point not to deal with them as refugees” but had issued residency permits to 100,000 (One Lac) Syrians who wished to stay in the kingdom.

• Al Jazeera and Arab News, on 12 Sep 2015, reported that Saudi Foreign ministry official says nation has received nearly 2.5 million Syrians since 2011. Though there were no evidence to authenticate this statement or prove it.

• Arab News, on 10 September 2015, reported that Saudi Arabia has 500,000 (Five lac) Syrians in total and a significant portion also fled to the Kingdom following the outbreak of the civil war four years ago. While not classified as refugees only those on visas.

• BBC, on 7 September 2015, reported that Saudi Arabia says it has let in 500,000 (Five Lacs) Syrian refugees since 2011.

Total number of Syrians in Saudi Arabia

The CIA Fact book estimated that as of 2013 foreign nationals living in Saudi Arabia made up about 21% of the population. Total number of Syrians in Saudi Arabia were Syrian: 100,000 before the starting of Syrian Civil War

Saudi Arabia, like all of the Gulf states, is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention. According to the Saudi official, Saudi Arabia had issued residency permits to 100,000 Syrians. The BBC reported that "most successful cases are Syrians already in Gulf states extending their stays, or those entering because they have family there."

Syrians in Saudi Arabia include migrants from Syria to Saudi Arabia, as well as their descendants. The number of Syrians in Saudi Arabia is estimated at around 500,000 people in August 2015 and consists mainly of temporary foreign workers. According to the UNHCR's representative for the Gulf region, there are 500,000 Syrians in Saudi Arabia, but in "official documentation they are referred to as “Arab brothers and sisters in distress”" and not as Syrian nationals.

Refugees or workers

There are reports that Saudi Arabia has offered resettlement only to Syrian migrants that had a family in the kingdom, and has an estimated number of Syrian migrants and foreign workers that reaches 100,000 living with their families.

• No shelter to refugees without Visa

There is no evidence to suggest that Saudi government has in fact given shelter to actual refugees who are without Visa and Passports.

View of international community

The BBC reported that "despite their proximity to Syria, no Syrians claiming asylum have been taken in by Saudi Arabia or other wealthy Gulf countries."

The BBC also reported that "most successful cases are Syrians already in Gulf states extending their stays, or those entering because they have family there." No Gulf country has signed the UN Convention on Refugees, which sets standards for the treatment and rights of those fleeing to a new country."

Rich Gulf nations have been condemned for not welcoming Syrian refugees, who are fleeing the civil war and the Islamic State (Isis) onslaught in the country and making perilous journeys to Europe via sea. While numerous countries apart from Europe are embracing thousands of migrants, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar have been blamed for remaining silent on the issue.

Notable people

• Yahya Hawwa
• Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
• Abdul Basit Ahmad
• Wael Ayan
• Ahmad Deeb
• Mohammed Estanbeli
• Mohamad Hamwi
• Abdelrazaq Al Hussain
• Jehad Al-Hussain
• Mahmoud Maowas
• Mohannad Ibrahim
• Raja Rafe
• Omar Al Soma
• Muhammad Surur

See also

• Syrian refugees in Saudi Arabia
• Saudi Arabia–Syria relations
• Syrian diaspora

References

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference "bloomberg.com" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
2. ^ "Migrant crisis: Why Syrians do not flee to Gulf states". BBC News. 2 September 2015.
3. "Migrant crisis: Why Syrians do not flee to Gulf states". BBC News.
4. "Saudi Arabia says criticism of Syria refugee response 'false and misleading'". the Guardian.
5. "Saudi Arabia denies not giving Syrians sanctuary". aljazeera.com.
6. "2.5m Syrians hosted by KSA since uprising". arabnews.com.
7. "KSA already home to 500,000 Syrians". arabnews.com.
8. "Migrant crisis: Why the Gulf states are not letting Syrians in". BBC News.
9. "Arab versus Asian migrant workers in the GCC countries" (PDF). p. 10.
10. "The Arab world’s wealthiest nations are doing next to nothing for Syria’s refugees". The Washington Post. 2 September 2015.
11. ^ "Saudi Arabia says criticism of Syria refugee response 'false and misleading'". The Guardian. 12 September 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
12. "Demand to open doors to Syrians spreading online". BBC News. 2 September 2015.

v t e Immigration to Saudi Arabia
From Asia	Bangladeshis Filipinos Indians Indonesians Iraqis Koreans Lebanese Nepalis Pakistanis Syrians Turks
From elsewhere	Americans Australians
See also	Kafala system Human trafficking Demographics Foreign workers

v t e Demographics of Saudi Arabia
Religions	Islam Sunni Shia Ahmadiyya Christianity Catholicism Eastern Orthodoxy Protestantism Jews Hinduism Buddhism
Ethnic groups	Arabs Bedoon Bedouin Rashaida
Immigrants and expatriates	v t e Immigration to Saudi Arabia From Asia Bangladeshis Filipinos Indians Indonesians Iraqis Koreans Lebanese Nepalis Pakistanis Syrians Turks From elsewhere Americans Australians See also Kafala system Human trafficking Demographics Foreign workers
Related	Youth

v t e Syrians and diaspora
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