Despotism and oppression drive the best citizens of the UAE to emigrate in search of a secure and stable environment without restrictions on public freedoms, espionage, and the marginalization in public life.
Recently, data published by the Economist magazine revealed an unprecedented increase in the migration of UAE nationals to European countries to escape the reality of the despotism they suffer.
While the UAE presents itself as a destination of minds and investments from all over the world, the question arises about minds citizens of the country: Why go far away?! Why do they find in the West and even in other Arab countries a haven for living, survival and peace of mind?!
Not only the interference of the security apparatus and its rejection of freedom of opinion and expression that drove the minds away, but also the government’s interference in art and acting. A prominent Emirati director announced his decision to emigrate to Kuwait due to the decline of “art” in the UAE due to the increasing interventions.
This director was responsible for directing the series of “betrayal of the homeland”, which attacked academics and activists of the Al Islah Society who had criticized the security interventions and demanded to form a national council with full powers. Security apparatuses charged them with “treason” as if the citizenship is an indulgence that they can offer whomever they like.
Now those who took out and participated in this sitcom drink from the same cup that prompted UAE nationals to leave and seek refuge abroad out of fear of repression.
According to reliable data, the number of UAE nationals seeking asylum between 2012 and 2017 is more than 600 Emirati, a large proportion of the population of fewer than one million citizens, and does not suffer from the war or the problems that hit the Middle East. The figure has increased dramatically during the last two years from 24 asylum seekers in 2012 rose to more than 180 asylum seekers in 2017.
The security apparatuses and the infamous laws target the academics, experts, and minds of the UAE. The procedures and decisions of the security apparatus marginalize them before they are dismissed from their jobs and positions. That is if they weren’t subjected to arbitrary detention and torture in secret prisons.
The security apparatus is tightening on all institutions in the country and uses all means to enforce its security vision. Even art and the media are subject to its authority. For this reason, the minds and those who wish to express their views and work freely without the consent of the security leave the country. They say in the end: Migration is the solution!
Does the security apparatus expect the Emiratis to leave their country to stop the barbarity of its decisions and its exploitation of state institutions? It doesn’t seem it will end soon!
According to data published by the British “Economist” magazine, there is an unprecedented increase in the migration of UAE nationals to European countries to escape the reality of the tyranny they suffer.
The British newspaper published a report on the abandonment of thousands of Gulf Arabs of their homelands. The newspaper revealed a significant increase in the applications of asylum provided by Arabs from the Gulf to European countries in the past few years, some of them women. It also revealed that this is an unprecedented increase that might become a phenomenon.
The Saudis, according to the report, have been on the top of the Gulf asylum seekers list, which is controversial because it parallels the rise of Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of the Kingdom, and his famous program Vision 2030, which promised significant development and economic achievements.
The report revealed that the rate of applications for immigration by the Saudis increased by 318% compared to that in 2012. A total number of 815 Saudis submitted formal requests for immigration to Europe and America in 2017 only. This number is likely to increase, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
Interestingly, the UAE nationals were the closest to the Saudis in this direction as the number of asylum applications from the country increased by 3005 compared to 2012.
The report considered this to be inexplicable only by the similarities between the two countries, which have turned into security states that are persecuting their citizens.
According to the report, these attitudes lead citizens in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to fear and pessimism. Their religious preachers directly or indirectly incite their leaders to brutalize their people instead of urging them to justice and reason and taking into account the interests of the people.
The case of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is one of the most prominent cases that revealed this phenomenon. Khashoggi chose voluntary exile and left his country for safety reasons and preserving his freedom to write and expression.
Former United Nations human rights commissioner Mary Robinson withdrew from a literary festival in Dubai after an open letter was published by writers, intellectuals and activists demanding the release of prominent human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor, the Guardian newspaper reported.
The citizens of the UAE suffer from the reality of living in a tyrannical state that is based on the restriction of public freedoms and rights. The rulers of the UAE don’t listen to the people’s demands of not interfering with the other countries policies and igniting wars and chaos in the region.