http://lobelog.com/despite-allegations-the-gcc-is-accepting-syrian-refugees/#more-36393

Despite Allegations, the GCC is Accepting Syrian Refugees

by Jesse Schatz
This month at the second presidential debate Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump addressed the Syrian refugee crisis. Trump stated, “I believe in having other people pay for [Syrian refugees], as an example, the Gulf States who are not carrying their weight, but they have nothing but money.” The billionaire Republican White House hopeful is not alone in arguing that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members have either failed to take adequate action or have completely ignored the issue altogether. Since last year, Western media outlets across the political spectrum have published articles with headlines such as “No, Arab Gulf Countries are not taking in refugees” (Huffington Post).
These articles from both the Left and Right overlook the fact that over a million Syrians currently live in the GCC countries. The majority of them came to the Gulf since Syria’s crisis erupted in 2011 (although without the protections provided by the ‘refugee’ designation). According to the World Bank, from 2011 to 2013 alone the number of Syrians living in the Gulf increased 470 percent from 241,000 to 1,375,000.
GCC members have also made significant financial contributions to humanitarian relief efforts in Syria. Specifically, Saudi sources have reportedly given over $700 million in humanitarian aid to fund refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon. The UAE’s government, as of 2015, has reportedly provided $750 million in aid since the Syrian crisis erupted five and a half years ago. Kuwait has hosted three international humanitarian pledging conferences for Syria between January 2013 and March 2015 with a total of $1.3 billion pledged.
The discrepancy between the perceptions of Trump and others and the efforts of the Gulf to help Syrians in distress boils down to misunderstandings surrounding the legal category of “refugee.” http://lobelog.com/despite-allegations-the-gcc-is-accepting-syrian-refugees/#more-36393