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Abstract:
How did the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) establish its presence in states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)? And how did it negotiate the legal frameworks needed to formally operate in these states? To answer these questions, the article focuses on the historical case of Saudi Arabia. Based on UNHCR archival material and interviews with key actors (including Government officials, UNHCR staff and individuals formerly living as refugees), it details how an unprecedented opportunity for UNHCR to establish a formal presence in Saudi Arabia emerged in the context of the 1991 Gulf War. The article argues that Saudi Arabia’s hosting of Iraqi refugees in the Rafha camp provided a watershed moment for UNHCR to carve out an official presence by, first, negotiating a Note Verbale providing UNHCR with official recognition in 1992, and second, a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 1993. Importantly, this MoU provides the basis for UNHCR-Saudi relations up to this day.
Acknowledgment
While authors’ names appear in alphabetical order, both have contributed equally to this research article. They would like to thank Nora Milch and the staff at the UNHCR Archives for their invaluable assistance.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (adopted July 28, 1951, entered into force April 22, 1954) 189 UNTS 137 (1951 Convention); Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (adopted January 31, 1967, entered into force October 4, 1967) 606 UNTS 267 (1967 Protocol).
2 UNHCR, Situation Operations Plan Gulf Countries 2001, undated. Available at: https://www.unhcr.org/3c6398174.pdf.
3 UNHCR, Saudi Arabia, undated. Available at: https://reporting.unhcr.org/donors-saudiarabia, accessed February 2, 2022.
4 Georgia Cole (2021) Pluralising Geographies of Refuge, Progress in Human Geography, 45(1), pp. 88–110. For exceptions, see Joseph Kéchichian & Fahad Alsharif (Citation2021) Sa'udi Policies Towards Migrants and Refugees: A Sacred Duty (Chicago: Sussex Academic Press); Helene Thiollet (Citation2011) Migration as Diplomacy: Labor Migrants, Refugees, and Arab Regional Politics in the Oil-Rich Countries, International Labor and Working-Class History 79(1), pp. 103–121.
5 Christopher Low (Citation2020) Imperial Mecca: Ottoman Arabia and the Indian Ocean Hajj (New York: Columbia University Press).
6 In 2018, an approximate 12.6 million out of a total population of 33.4 million were non-citizens. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia General Authority for Statistics, “Population by Gender, Age Groups and Nationality (Saudi/Non-Saudi),” (2018), Available at: https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/5680, accessed February 2, 2022.
7 Françoise De Bel-Air (Citation2015) A Note on Syrian Refugees in the Gulf: Attempting to Assess Data and Policies, Migration Policy Centre. Available at: https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/37965; Marko Valenta & Jo Jakobsen (Citation2017) Mixed Migrations to the Gulf: An Empirical Analysis of Migrations from Unstable and Refugee-Producing Countries to the GCC, 1960–2015, Refugee Survey Quarterly, 36(2), pp. 33–56.
8 Of course, this estimate stands in stark contrast to the very small number of asylum applications registered annually by UNHCR; in 2020, UNHCR’s Riyadh office registered merely 9.434 asylum applications, and in 2021, the official number of refugees under UNHCR’s mandate was only 340. See UNHCR, Refugee Data Finder, undated, available at: https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/download/?url=3HJ0lc, accessed February 10, 2022.
9 For a general discussion on the exceptionalism of non-signatory states, see Maja Janmyr (Citation2021) The 1951 Refugee Convention and Non-Signatory States: Charting a Research Agenda, International Journal of Refugee Law, 33(2), pp. 188–213.
10 See Ahmed Kanna, Amélie Le Renard & Neha Vora (2020) Beyond Exception (Ithaca: Cornell University Press); Matthew Grey (Citation2018) Emerging Trends and Debates in Gulf Studies, in Katlyn Quenzer, Maria Syed, & Elisabeth Yarbakhsh (eds.) Emerging Scholarship on the Middle East and Central Asia. Moving from the Periphery (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield).
11 James Onley & Gerd Nonneman (Citation2020) The Journal of Arabian Studies and the Development of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies, Journal of Arabian Studies 10(1), pp. 1–50.
12 This period was chosen as it covers the time before and after the 1990 Gulf war, when UNHCR established gradually a formal presence in Saudi Arabia.
13 Interviews were carried out in either English or Norwegian, supplemented by Arabic. All interviewees have been anonymized. Ethical approval has been obtained by the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (NSD), ref. no. 785863/ 510076. We also adhere to the Guidelines for Research ethics in the Social Sciences, Humanities, Law and Theology by the Norwegian National Research Committees, available at: https://www.forskningsetikk.no/en/guidelines/social-sciences-humanities-law-and-theology/guidelines-for-research-ethics-in-the-social-sciences-humanities-law-and-theology/ as well as UNHCR’s guidelines for archival research, available at: https://www.unhcr.org/3b03896a4.html.
14 Maja Janmyr & Dallal Stevens (Citation2021) Regional Refugee Regimes: Middle East, in Cathryn Costello, Michelle Foster, & Jane McAdam (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of International Refugee Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
15 Erika Feller (Citation2009) Protecting People in Conflict and Crisis: Responding to the Challenges of a Changing World, Opening Address, Humanitarian Space Conference, Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford, p. 5.
16 Dallal Stevens (Citation2016) Rights, Needs or Assistance? The Role of the UNHCR in Refugee Protection in the Middle East, International Journal of Human Rights 20(2), p. 264.
17 Maja Janmyr (Citation2017) No Country of Asylum: ‘Legitimizing’ Lebanon’s Rejection of the 1951 Refugee Convention, International Journal of Refugee Law 29(3), pp. 438–465.
18 Georgia Cole (2021) Non-signatory Donor States and UNHCR: Questions of Funding and Influence, Forced Migration Review 67, pp. 56–59.
19 Janmyr & Stevens, “Regional Refugee Regimes: Middle East”. See also Janmyr, “The 1951 Refugee Convention and Non-Signatory States: Charting a Research Agenda”; Marjoleine Zieck (Citation2006) UNHCR’s Worldwide Presence in the Field: A Legal Analysis of UNHCR’s Cooperation Agreements (Nijmegen: Wolf Legal Publishers).
20 Transcription of names follows the transcription adopted in the archival documents.
21 UNHCR Archives, Fonds 11 Series 3 (hereafter UNHCR 11/3), “Final Report: Mission to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 17 October – 18 December 1991,” in 010.SAU External Relations. Relations with Governments. Saudi Arabia (1986-1994) (hereafter 010.SAU), December 24, 1991.
22 UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Memorandum: Report from 01-31 July 1990,” in 022.SAU Reports BO Reports Saudi Arabia (1988-1992) (hereafter 022.SAU), August 12, 1990.
23 UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Incoming Cable from UNDP/HCR Riyadh/SAU to HCR”, in 022.SAU, June 13, 1988.
24 UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Memorandum: Report from 01-31 July 1990.”
25 UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Mission Report /UNHCR 1991 Annual Protection Report: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” in 010.SAU, December 16, 1991.
26 Kamel Morjane, “Terms of reference for the mission to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait by Mm N. Morris and M. Menning,” UNHCR (1991). On file with authors.
27 UNHCR, “Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,” A/48/12 (1993): para. 165.
28 UNHCR 11/3, “Mission Report Saudi Arabia/Kuwait/Saudi Arabia (10-26 April 91) Nicholas Morris,” in 010.SAU, April 26, 1991.
29 Human Rights Watch (1992) Human Rights Watch World Report 1992: Events of 1991, undated, available at: https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/WR92/MEW2-02.htm, accessed March 14, 2022.
30 Interview with former refugee, Oslo, November 2020; Interview with former refugee, online, October 2021.
31 Interview with former refugee, Oslo, November 2020; Interview with former refugee, online, January 2021; Interview with former refugee, Online, October 2021.
32 UNHCR 11/3, “Situation Report – KSA,” in 010.SAU, May 4, 1992.
33 UNHCR, “Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,” A/47/12 (1992): para. 171.
34 UNHCR, “UNHCR activities financed by voluntary funds: report for 1994-1995 and proposed programmes and budget for 1996. Part 5, South West Asia, North Africa and the Middle East,” A/AC.96/846/Part V/12 (1995): para. 2 (d); UNHCR, “Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,” A/49/12 (1994): paras. 54–55.
35 UNHCR, “Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,” A/48/12 (1993): paras. 57–58.
36 Paul Lewis (1991) U.N. Refugee Chief Seeking Help From the Gulf Nations. The New York Times, November 10, p. 14.
37 UNHCR, “Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,” A/47/12 (1992): paras. 171–172.
38 UNHCR 11/3, “Letters to MOD/MFA,” in 010.SAU External Relations. Relations with Governments. Saudi Arabia (1986-1994), September 23, 1991.
39 UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Mission Report/Note for the File. 15 November 1991. Meeting at USA Embassy,” in 010.SAU, November 15, 1991.
40 UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Final Report: Mission to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 17 October – 18 December 1991,” in 010.SAU, December 24, 1991.
41 UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Mission Report/Note for the File. 15 November 1991. Meeting at USA Embassy.” See also UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Mission Report/Note for the File, 18 November 1991. Telecon with USA,” in 010.SAU, November 15, 1991.
42 UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Mission Report/Note for the File. 23 November 1991. Meeting with MODA, KSA,” in 010.SAU, November 23, 1991.
43 Ibid.
44 Ibid.
45 Ibid.
46 UNHCR 11/3, “Meeting with Prince Sultan Bin Abdel Aziz,” in 010.SAU, January 28, 1992.
47 UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Mission Report/Note for the File. 24 November 1991. Meeting with MFA, KSA,” in 010.SAU, December 24, 1991.
48 UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Mission Report/Note for the File. 13 November 1991, Meeting with MFA, Riyadh,” in 010.SAU, December 24, 1991. See also UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Mission Report/Note for the File. 24 November 1991.”
49 UNHCR 11/3, “KSA Recognition of UNHCR”, in 010.SAU, January 29, 1992.
50 UNHCR 11/3, “Incoming Cable, from A.M. El-Solh to UNHCR Att: Morjane/Fakoury/Djamali, Geneva, De Brancovan Cairo, Fadhil A. Khalil, Riyadh,” in 010.SAU, February 4, 1992.
51 Ibid.
52 Ibid.
53 UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Electronic Cable. From Morjane to Barbeau, Djemali, Fakhouri, Fell, Menning, Morjane, Ouanes, Sultani,” in 010.SAU, March 26, 1992.
54 UNHCR 11/3, “Letter to Prince Saud al-Faisal from Sadako Ogata,” in 010.SAU, June 21, 1993.
55 Zieck, “UNHCR's Worldwide Presence in the Field: A Legal Analysis of UNHCR's Cooperation Agreements”. See also UNHCR, Model UNHCR Co-operation Agreement between the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Government of Country X, 2009, Rev. MNW 24/10/01, available at, https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b31b27.html, accessed January 27, 2022.
56 UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Electronic Cable. From Morjane to 010.SAU. HCR/are/0411,” in 010.SAU, March 26, 1992.
57 UNHCR 11/3, “Draft MOU – Saudi Arabia,” in 010.SAU External Relations. Relations with Governments. Saudi Arabia (1986-1994), April 13, 1992. See also UNHCR 11/3, “Incoming Fax Cable from A. M. Solh, Regional Representative, to Mr K. Morjane, Head of Bureau SWANAME,” in 010.SAU, June 24, 1992. For a similar discussion, see also UNHCR 11/3, “Meeting with Amb. J. El Lakani, MFA, 29 January 1992,” in 010.SAU, January 29, 1992.
58 UNHCR 11/3, “Faxgram from A.M. El-Solh, Regional Representative on Mission Saudi Arabia, to UNHCR Geneva Attn: HC/Morjane/Troeller. 30 April 1992.” in 010.SAU, April 30, 1992.
59 Ibid.
60 UNHCR 11/3, “Meeting with Amb. J. El Lakani, MFA, 29 January 1992.”
61 UNHCR 11/3, “Faxgram from A.M. El-Solh, Regional Representative on Mission Saudi Arabia, to UNHCR Geneva Attn: HC/Morjane/Troeller. 30 April 1992.”
62 Ibid.
63 UNHCR 11/3, “Situation Report – KSA.”
64 UNHCR 11/3, “Development of MOU with K.S.A. and Meeting with S.G. MFO for Political Affairs and the American Ambassador to the KSA,” in 010, July 17, 1992.
65 UNHCR 11/3, “Incoming Fax Cable from A.M. Solh, Regional Representative, to Mr K. Morjane, Head of Bureau SWANAME.”
66 UNHCR 11/3, “Development of MOU with K.S.A. and Meeting with S.G. MFO for Political Affairs and the American Ambassador to the KSA.”
67 Ibid.
68 UNHCR 11/3, “UNHCR Incoming Cable from B. Panday to Morjane/Franco/Troeller, 23 September 1992,” in 010.SAU, September 23, 1992.
69 UNHCR 11/3, “Letter to Ali El Shair, Minister of Information from Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,” in 010.SAU, February 1, 1993.
70 The Associated Press (1993) 13 Reported Killed in March In Riot at Iraqi Refugee Camp, The New York Times, 23 May, available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/23/world/13-reported-killed-in-march-in-riot-at-iraqi-refugee-camp.html, accessed March 14, 2022.
71 UNHCR 11/3, “Meeting with Prince TURKI on 15.03.1993,” in 010.SAU, March 16, 1993.
72 UNHCR 11/3, “Signing of MoU with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” in 010.SAU, June 16, 1993.
73 UNHCR, UNHCR Electronic Cable/Telex, To the UN Secretary General from the High Commissioner, 26 April 1991. 010.SAU. On file with authors.
74 UNHCR 11/3, “Meeting with Amb. J. El Lakani, MFA, 29 January 1992.”
75 UNHCR, “Submission by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Compilation Report—Universal Periodic Review: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” (2013).
76 Interview with UNHCR official, online, February 2022.