What factors contribute to the high presence of foreign expatriates in Gulf countries?
Foreign workers in the Arab Gulf States, such as Saudi Arabia, are often perceived as either cheaper or more professionally qualified than local labor. However, these workers are typically not offered easier paths to citizenship due to concerns about their impact on local culture, religious differences, and potential political instability. Many are hired as temporary solutions until the local population can be trained for the jobs, but this transition hasn't always been smooth.
In Saudi Arabia, efforts to push foreign workers out include reserving certain jobs for Saudi women only and imposing fees on employers for each foreign worker, making them more expensive in the labor market. While some argue for a moral case to provide foreign workers with routes to citizenship, concerns about cultural, religious, and political differences persist.
