UAE | Government

Delegates at UAE identity conference demand stronger preservation of culture

The UAE is one of the few countries in the world where foreigners outnumber nationals by a seven-to-one ratio. Yet despite this severe imbalance in the demographics, the UAE maintains a strong national identity. However, many are rising in unity to demand a stronger preservation of their culture.

  • By Marten Youssef, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:17 April 16, 2008
  • Gulf News

Abu Dhabi: The UAE is one of the few countries in the world where foreigners outnumber nationals by a seven-to-one ratio.

Yet despite this severe imbalance in the demographics, the UAE maintains a strong national identity. However, many are rising in unity to demand a stronger preservation of their culture.

"What makes us Emiratis is more than our beards or our dishdashas," Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minster, told the first National Identity conference on Tuesday at the opening session.

The two-day conference aims to discuss the challenges to the national identity.

"Today an Emirati student is being taught Islamic studies in English by a Pakistani. This is the state of our nation," Ahmad Al Tayer, Chairman of the National Human Resources Development and Employment Authority (Tanmia) said.

For the younger generation, the conditions are alarming.

"We in the UAE are extremely open to all other cultures but there really are so many sources that are threatening our identity," said 27-year-old Thamar Mubarak who is attending the conference.

"In my opinion the biggest threat against our culture is the media and the excess availability of satellites. Everything from music to movies to ideologies are challenging the way we think and unless we hold strong to our identity it will fade away."

The fact that an overwhelming majority of the country are foreigners is not seen as a threat to the national identity by Mubarak.

"It's very possible for us to manoeuvre our way around that influence, but the media is inside every home and every pocket and is constantly redefining what it means to be an Emirati."

For 26-year-old Abdullah Al Nuaimi, a government employee, it has become difficult for him to find someone to speak to him in his native language.

"If I go to Dubai, which has a lot fewer nationals than we do here in Abu Dhabi, I can hardly find someone to speak in my own language. But when I was in France, I would get ridiculed if I tried to speak English to a Frenchman."

Some would say the uneven demographics of the UAE are a consequence of being a tolerant nation pursuing economic prosperity, but Al Nuaimi said: "We have taken certain measures to help protect our identity, preserving the right of citizenship only to nationals and teaching the populace about our heritage."

The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development, the organisers of the conference, are aiming to reach youngsters through this event.

So what does it mean to be an Emirati?

"To be the son of this country and to know that this is the land my father and grandfather kept for us," Al Nuaimi says.

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