>>THE NUMBER OF SYRIAN REFUGEES ATTEMPTING TO MAKE IT INTO THE
EU, AND THE NUMBER WHO HAVE DIED ATTEMPTING TO MAKE IT TO THE EU,
HAVE BOTH BEEN RISING IN RECENT MONTHS, BUT WHAT IS PERHAPS MORE
AMAZING THAN WHERE THEY ARE TRYING TO GO IS WHERE THEY ARE
NOT TRYING TO GO, AND WHY THAT IS.
WE RECENTLY FOUND OUT THAT
IN COMPARISON TO THE HUGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE, HUGE NUMBERS
OF PEOPLE BEING ALLOWED INTO COUNTRIES LIKE TURKEY, ITALY,
COUNTRIES LIKE THAT, THE GULF STATES HAVE ALLOWED ZERO SYRIAN
REFUGEES IN, WHICH IS AMAZING, CONSIDERING THE SHEER NUMBER OF
RESOURCES, THE MONEY THEY HAVE, THE CAPACITY THEY HAVE TO HELP
PEOPLE FROM SYRIA.
LET'S SUMMARIZE WHAT AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL SAID.
A 2014 REPORT FOUND THAT THE SIX
COUNTRIES LOOKED AT HAD ONLY FIVE APPLICATIONS FOR ASYLUM
FROM SYRIANS AND REJECTED THEM ALL.
BY CONTRAST, TURKEY IS
CURRENTLY HOST TO ROUGHLY 1.6 MILLION SYRIANS, AND LEBANON, A
SMALL COUNTRY WITH A WEAK INFRASTRUCTURE, LESS CAPACITY TO
TAKE IN THESE QUANTITIES OF PEOPLE, IS HOST TO OVER 1
MILLION, NOW A QUARTER OF THE COUNTRY'S POPULATION.
THAT WOULD
BE LIKE US ALLOWING IN 125 MILLION SYRIANS INTO AMERICA, TO
PUT IT INTO PERSPECTIVE.
IT IS AMAZING.
>>IT WOULD ACTUALLY BE 75 MILLION BUT THAT'S OKAY.
>>I AM BAD AT MATH.
BUT A LOT OF THEM, ANYWAY.
BUT THOSE SIX GULF
STATES, WHICH AGAIN HAVE A LOT OF OIL WEALTH, HUGE RESERVES IN
TERMS OF CASH, THEY CAN AFFORD TO HELP THESE PEOPLE, AND
AS WE WILL SHOW THEY ARE DOING SOMETHING STUPID, BUT NOT
ACTUALLY BRINGING THEM IN.
ZERO.
THAT IS AMAZING.
>> I AM NOT A BIG FAN OF THE GULF COUNTRIES, AND THIS IS
AMONG THE REASONS WHY.
OBVIOUS REASONS, WE DON'T ALLOW WOMEN TO
DRIVE OR VOTE, AND IF WE ALLOW WOMEN TO VOTE, WE ONLY HAVE 16
OF THEM VOTE, AS A RECENT STORY OUT OF SAUDI ARABIA, AND IF
SOMEBODY WRITES A BLOG WE DON'T LIKE WE WILL FLOG THEM IN
PUBLIC.
WE HAVE BEAUTIFUL ARCHITECTURE, BUT WE USE SLAVE
LABOR FOR IT.
TURKEY HAS 70 MILLION PEOPLE, THEY LET IN 6 MILLION.
>>THAT IS A FOURTH OF THE COUNTRY.
I AM REALLY BAD AT MATH, I AM SORRY.
>>THAT IS A BURDEN TO TURKEY.
TURKEY TALKS ABOUT ISIS AND ARE
YOU DOING ENOUGH, TURKEY SAYS WE TOOK IN ALL THESE REFUGEES.
THAT
IS NOTHING COMPARED TO LEBANON, A QUARTER OF YOUR POPULATION ARE
NOW SYRIAN REFUGEES.
YES, LEBANON HAS SEEN A LITTLE LESS
THAN TURKEY, BUT AS A PERCENTAGE AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT.
IT IS NOT
LIKE LEBANON WAS AN ENORMOUSLY WEALTHY COUNTRY TO BEGIN WITH,
OBVIOUSLY IT HAS SOME ISSUES IN THE PAST, AND THERE WAS A TIME
WHEN LEBANON WAS A WONDERFULLY PROSPEROUS AND GREAT COUNTRY,
BUT IT GOT DESTROYED BY WAR A COUPLE OF TIMES.
ON THE OTHER
HAND, THE GULF COUNTRIES HAVE A TON OF MONEY, AND SOME OF THEM
LIKE KUWAIT WILL LET YOU IN IF YOU ARE SYRIAN IF YOU'RE WILLING
TO WORK FOR REALLY LOW WAGES AND WILLING TO BUILD THINGS FOR
THEM.
CONGRATULATIONS, YOU GET A PASS TO DO JUST THAT, AND NOT TO
STAY AND NOT TO BE A CITIZEN.
BUT THE FACT THAT PEOPLE ARE
ASKING THAT ARE REFUGEES, THEY HAVE NOT LET ANY OF THEM IN,
THEY SAY MY GOD, THE SYRIAN WAR, WE CARE SO MUCH, BLAH BLAH.
DON'T BRING THEM HERE THOUGH.
NOT IN MY BACKYARD.
NOT IN MY
BACK GULF.
>>THERE IS OBVIOUSLY SORT OF POLITICAL SIMILARITIES -- THAT
WOULD BE SOME EXPLANATION AS TO WHY THEY SHOULD BRING THEM IN.
YOU WOULD THINK RELIGIOUS SOLIDARITY IN SOME OF THESE
AREAS, YOU WOULD IMAGINE THESE COUNTRIES THAT SAY THEY ARE SO
DRIVEN BY THEIR FAITH, THAT THAT WOULD CAUSE THEM TO FEEL MORE
CHARITABLE IN TERMS OF ALLOWING PEOPLE IN, AND HONESTLY AT THIS
POINT IN COMPARISON TO THE GULF, KUWAIT'S OFFER SEEMS PRETTY
GOOD.
IT IS HORRENDOUS, IT IS TERRIBLE AND INHUMAN IN A LOT OF
WAYS, BUT IN COMPARISON TO BEING FORCED TO BRAVE THE
MEDITERRANEAN AND LIKELY, AS THOUSANDS HAVE, DIE ON THE WAY,
THAT SEEMS LIKE A GOOD DEAL IN COMPARISON.
AS I SAID THE GULF
COUNTRIES HAVE DONE A LITTLE BIT TO HELP, JUST NOT ACTUALLY BRING
PEOPLE IN.
IN 2013 THEY GAVE $910 MILLION TO HELP ALLEVIATE
THE CRISIS AND IN 2014 SAUDI ARABIA GAVE MORE THAN $90
MILLION TO THE UNHCR.
KUWAIT EXTENDED LONG-TERM VISAS FOR
SYRIANS WORKING IN THE COUNTRY, BUT THEY HAVE A LONG-TERM PLAN
THOUGH TO DRASTICALLY REDUCE THE NUMBER OF OVERALL FOREIGN WORKERS.
NOT SYRIANS SPECIFICALLY, BUT IT WILL AFFECT THEM.
>>FAIR IS FAIR, THEY DID GIVE MONEY.
BUT IN TERMS OF HUMAN
BEINGS, THEY DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH THEM.
AND ONE OF THE
FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM IS LOOKING OUT FOR THE POOR AND NEEDY.
ARE
THERE ANY PEOPLE THAT ARE MORE NEEDY THAN SYRIAN REFUGEES?
A
HORRIBLE PICTURE WAS JUST IN THE MEDIA OF A YOUNG SYRIAN BOY WHO
WASHED ASHORE WHO WAS TRYING TO OBVIOUSLY GET OUT OF THE COUNTRY
AND HAD COME THROUGH TURKEY AND WAS TRYING TO GET TO EUROPE, AND
SEEING THEM THERE ON THE SHORE, IT'S HEARTBREAKING.
THERE IS A
STORY OF DOZENS OF OTHER REFUGEES DYING INSIDE TRUCKS,
ETC., THESE PEOPLE ARE DESPERATE.
AND YOU DON'T TAKE
THEM IN WHILE YOU PRETEND TO BE ALL HIGH AND HOLY, IT MAKES ME
QUESTION IF YOU REALLY BELIEVE WHAT YOU MEAN.
>>HERE IS THE THING, IT WOULD BE AMAZING -- IF YOU ARE AN
OUTSIDER LOOKING IN AND LOOKING AT THE EFFECT OF THE FAITH IN
THIS AREA, YOU HAVE PEOPLE WHO COULD HELP WHO APPARENTLY ARE
NOT DRIVEN BY THEIR FAITH TO HELP, AND THE PROBLEM SEEMS
LARGELY DRIVEN -- YOU CAN TRACE BACK EARLIER MILITARY AND
ECONOMIC REASONS FOR THE TROUBLE IN SYRIA, BUT A LOT OF IT IS
RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM GIVING BIRTH TO GROUPS LIKE ISIS, THE NET
EFFECT ON SYRIA IS PRETTY NEGATIVE.
IT WOULD NICE TO SEE
SOME BALANCING FROM SOME COUNTRIES THAT HAVE THE
RESOURCES TO DO IT.
I JUST DISCOVERED TODAY THAT THIS WAS
GOING ON, BUT IN THE ARAB WORLD THIS HAS BEEN KNOWLEDGE FOR A
WHILE.
THE FACT THAT THEY ARE NOT HELPING THEM.
AND THERE HAS
BEEN PRESSURE ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO FORCE THESE GULF STATES TO DO
SOMETHING, TO ACT, TO HELP PEOPLE FROM SYRIA.
THERE IS A
CARTOON GOING AROUND, WE CAN BRING THAT UP.
IT SHOWS A MAN IN
TRADITIONAL GARB POINTING TOWARD THE DOOR WITH THE EU FLAG SAYING
WHY DON'T YOU LET THEM IN, YOU DISCOURTEOUS PEOPLE?
THE ARABIC
HASHTAG WELCOMING_SYRIA'S_ REFUGEES_IS_A_GULF_DUTY HAS BEEN
USED MORE THAN 33,000 TIMES, WHICH IS AMAZING CONSIDERING
THAT TAKES UP A THIRD OF AN ENTIRE TWEET.
THEY ARE TRYING TO ORGANIZE TO GET THE GULF STATES TO DO
SOMETHING ABOUT THIS, IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE IF THE
PRESSURE WORKS.
THESE ARE THE SORTS OF REGIMES THAT ARE LARGELY IMMUNE TO
THAT SORT OF INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE.