Gulf nations not paying heed to Migrant crisis
Exodus of tens of thousands of people from war and conflict hit countries have triggered worst migrant crisis since the World War II. People from Syria, Afghanistan and many more countries going towards Europe in search of a better life.
In an attempt to take shelter in European countries they were forced to put their lives on risk to sail the Mediterranean Sea by boarding small vessels. The European countries took cognizance to the plight of migrant crisis after an image of lifeless body of Syrian minor boy Aylan Kurdi went viral on social media recently.
The body of Aylan Kurdi wearing a red-shirt and blue shorts lying face down was found in the surf near the resort town of Bodrum in Turkey.
A picture is worth thousands word proved true when Aylan's image changed everything for the migrants. Europe accepted tens of thousands of migrants. Germany alone agreed to take 800,000 of them. On the one hand Europe opens its arms to brace migrants while on the other hand oil rich Gulf nations have done next to nothing for the migrants.
According
to
Amnesty
International
Gulf
countries
-
Qatar,
United
Arab
Emirates
(UAE),
Saudi
Arabia,
Kuwait
and
Bahrain
-
have
offered
zero
resettlement
places
to
Syrian
refugees.
Gulf
countries
counted
among
the
wealthiest
countries
in
the
world
--
not
just
in
the
Arab
world
--
have
no
room
at
all
for
their
fellow
Arabs.
Heart breaking: Image of lifeless body of Syrian child creates uproar on social media
The only Arab countries to have accepted Syrian refugees are Jordan and Lebanon. These two countries have weak economies with very limited means.
According to Al-Monitor, with an aim to defend its record, Saudi Arabia claimed to welcome around 2.5 million Syrians which probably stands at between 100,000 to 250,000. It has also made a claim of providing approximately $700 million to Jordan and Lebanon - although that figure falls far short of the $5.5 billion Turkey has spent.
Saudi Arabia is yet to offer a concrete plan that would appear to be aimed at making a serious difference among migrants.
According to Fox News, Sarah Hashash, Middle East and North Africa press officer at Amnesty International, has "called the Gulf Arab states' behavior 'utterly shameful' and criticized Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for officially taking in zero refugees."