Thousands of Middle Eastern migrants have swarmed into Europe, and Saudi Arabia is now finally offering to help.
No, the Gulf state isn’t offering to take in any of the so-called refugees. The Saudis are offering something much nicer to the European states having to deal with the migrant surge — paying for the construction of 200 mosques in Germany.
To any sane person, this overture would come across as a slap in the face. Saudi Arabia, despite being much closer in terms of geography and culture to the Syrian diaspora, has resisted all calls to take a single refugee in.
Saudi Arabia does have Syrian nationals residing in the Gulf nation, but none of them have been taken in as refugees. According to the BBC, Syrian migrants are only allowed in with either a work permit or a tourist visa, and those are only given after a very thorough vetting process. Some lucky migrants have been granted extended stays in Saudi Arabia (as there were many Syrian nationals living in the country prior to the civil war), but very few of them will receive the kind of residency and benefits they’ll find in Western Europe.
Their offer to “help” Germany only recognizes the obvious fact that the one million migrants the European state is planning to take in will transform the culture of the welcoming land. Considering Europe’s current problems with homegrown radical Islam, the mosques represent a troubling omen that too many of these migrants will further stoke the flames of extremism on the continent. (RELATED: Bleeding Hearts Will Only Make Europe’s Migrant Crisis Worse)
It’s not the first time Saudi Arabia has contributed to the rise of radical Islam. The oil empire has heavily financed Salafist extremists in the Syrian conflict, many of whom joined ISIS and ensured the violence spiraled out of control. Prominent Saudi nationals have even directly funded ISIS. Out of all state actors in Syria’s civil war, Saudi Arabia may be the most responsible for the atrocious bloodbath that’s pushing the migrant flow.
But Saudi Arabia is hoping Europe will shoulder the burden of the mess it created — while offering to pour gasoline on Europe’s problem with radical Islam.
However, Europe might have had its fill of letting in migrants without any impediments.
After taking in thousands of migrants, Germany and Austria are now enacting emergency border controls to stem the flow. Hungary and other Eastern European nations have already stated that “refugees” are not welcome in their countries. (RELATED: Germany, Austria Impose Emergency Border Controls)
That’s got a lot of western liberals upset. Even though Germany and other nations have already taken in a sizable number of migrants, closing their borders down after the prior deluge is apparently a sign of “closing their hearts.”
You can bet that the United States will be called upon to take in more than the 10,000 the Obama administration has agreed upon after this latest development.
But don’t expect any serious criticism of Saudi Arabia and fellow Gulf states for maintaining their present no-refugee policies.
The refugee crisis reveals the two very different philosophies operating in the migrant crisis. In the West, our leaders and chattering class views it as a humanitarian crisis that must be resolved by opening our borders. Open borders are a necessary sacrifice in order to live up to our liberal democratic ideals. What better way to show off your love of humanity than to let thousands of migrants stream over your border without prior permission?
In short, the West places platitudes over state (and citizen) interest.
Saudi Arabia is the opposite. The country doesn’t believe in liberal democracy, so it doesn’t have to take in migrants to prove its government loves liberty. Saudi leaders don’t want the migrants to come because they know the exodus contains terror elements. They also know that taking in thousands, if not millions, of migrants overnight is bound to lead social instability and to jeopardize future national prospects.
So they base their decision on the state’s interest rather than that of value signalling. Furthermore, their offer to “help” Germany is also in their best interests. Saudi-funded mosques is the perfect avenue to gain influence among Muslims living in Europe.
Additionally, knowing the West will take in the migrants lets the Saudis know they can continue to wage a proxy war against Iran with Syrian lives and not worry about the consequences. Win-win for them; loss-loss for us.
Maybe that’s why we should follow their example. Letting in thousands of unvetted migrants into our countries is an insane idea, as the Saudis well know. In Europe, it would exacerbate economic headaches and add to the problem of unassimilated, hostile communities residing within the European Union. Both America and Europe would potentially invite in dozens of hardened Islamic militants into their lands. (RELATED: America Has Its Own Refugee Problem On Its Hands)
There’s no real justification for these risks besides fulfilling loose interpretations of Western values. But Western states have a duty to their citizens first, not to elite opinion.
Especially when that elite opinion jeopardizes your nation’s stability.
If Saudi Arabia is smart enough to know the migrant crisis is more than meets the eye, then there’s no reason we should let the Saudis get the better of us.
Hopefully, Germany wakes up and says “Nein, Danke” to the mosques and more refugees.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated to clarify that some Syrian nationals do reside in Saudi Arabia, but not as refugees.