Opinion | Columnists
A case for soft population assimilation
Loyalty and commitment must be a reciprocal process between the GCC states and the prospective population to be assimilated.
- By Jihad Fakhreddine, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 00:13 October 3, 2008
- Image Credit: Nino Jose Heredia/Gulf News
Out of a total of 14 million square miles, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) occupies 14.3 per cent of the Arab world. In 2007, the GCC's population, including expatriates, comprised 13 per cent of the Arab world's approximate population of 320 millions.
This seeming balance in area and population turns into an imbalance in terms of distribution of economic resources at least when measured in GDP. In 2007, the GCC's GDP was about 43 per cent of a total $2,500 billion.
In 2007, the GCC population stood at about 40 millions; 25 millions of them were GCC nationals (63 per cent). Unconfirmed estimates put the Arab expatriates share at one-third of the 15 million or so expatriates in the region. Some estimates indicate that by 2025, expatriates would constitute about two-thirds of the GCC population
The aggravation of population imbalance has serious implications on both, the fate of the GCC nationals as people, their economic future, as well the region's strategic security.
The current population imbalance has become part of the regional debate. The public session convened by the UAE's National Federal Council (NFC) mid-September, on UAE's national identity illustrates that there is a sense of identity crisis. Amongst the attendees was UAE's most renowned intellectual, Dr Abdulkhaleq Abdullah who was most articulate in identifying some of the root causes for this crisis.
"National identity equals the federal identity and not the local. The sense of belonging is to the homeland and not to individual emirates that make up the federation... The question is not who I am?" he said. "Or, who are we?
The question is about our relationship with the nation we belong to. When I talk about identity, I mean national identity. And when we put these two words together the individual's relationship with the nation and homeland is invoked. The national identity has come under siege. It is going through a very difficult period."
I would add one additional factor to Abulkhaleq's perceptions; it is the resistance to the notion of population assimilation of expatriates. I am not referring here to an outright issuing of GCC passports to expatriates. Irrespective of how eventually some degree of assimilation may be implemented, there is an urgent need to discuss the long term benefits of assimilation and which segments of the expatriate population to assimilate and how.
Taboo
The term assimilation has so far been regarded as a political and cultural taboo. But since nations must always plan for long terms, 50 and 100 years from now, history tells us that assimilation are facts of life. What does Arab history in specific teach us about population assimilation? Indeed a lot!
Starting from over 5,000 years ago, migrants from the Arabian Peninsula, and specifically from Yemen started settling in the Fertile Crescent and Egypt. After the Islamic conquests that started over 1,600 years ago, they managed to give the vast lands that stretches as far the Atlantic, their name: Arab. The ancient migration waves were propelled by economic desperation. Later, Arab Islamic conquests were propelled by political and religious motivations.
It was an illustration of the positive impact Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula had on those two neighbouring regions. Adopting the name of the migrants was an illustration of how influential their impact was. The assimilation process took many generations as would be expected, but it also illustrates the willingness of the indigenous population to accept the migrants as part of them to the extent of adopting their name - Arabs.
During the oil boom, the change of economic fortunes of the Arab Peninsula witnessed a reverse of the push and pull of migration between the GCC and the rest of the countries in the Arab world. The resultant economic potential could only be sustained with the help of migrants from both the Arab and non-Arab world.
Now the question is, if a country cannot meet its population requirements on its own, what does it do if it's under threat for its survival? It seeks some sort of fortification from others who have the most likely (and possibly most willing) to be part of this intricate and lengthy process. For the GCC, the most likely prospects are Arab expatriates, certainly not an across the-board sort of assimilation. It's having to go back to the Arab history and learn from the assimilation process that took place between Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula and the rest of the present day Arab world.
Indeed all circumstances are entirely different now, but certain parallels are there. The parallels are in the need for fast-forwarding already existing conditions that could be conducive for such possible assimilation.
There is no doubt that common denominators such as Islam, Arabism and Arabic language alone are not sufficient, although they are necessary. It has more to do with creating a sense of common interests for the survival of the respective societies and states. It also has to do with creating a stake in preserving as well as willingness in protecting its existence for the common interest.
Loyalty and commitment must be a reciprocal process between the GCC states and the prospective population to be assimilated. Just as the GCC nationals are under siege, so are many of the expatriates - Arabs and non-Arabs alike where the uncertainty about their future is itself in a state of siege.
The longer they get established in the host country, especially the second and third generations, the lesser are the prospects of being assimilated in their homelands as well. The state of siege stems from not having strong sense of belonging to any state, be it first home or the second home.
The case for soft assimilation of some selected segments of Arab expatriates should not be looked at as a non-Arab prejudice. It has more to do with the identification of the potential population segments that could assimilate fastest and could possibly pose least cultural threat to the GCC indigenous populations.
Jihad N. Fakhreddine is an expert on public opinion polling.
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