Human Smuggling from Wollo, Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia: Askoblay Criminals or Enablers of Dreams?

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-55
Author(s):  
Fekadu Adugna ◽  
Priya Deshingkar ◽  
Adamnesh Atnafu
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
National Security ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Human Smuggling ◽  
Criminal Networks ◽  
Illegal Markets ◽  
Vulnerable People ◽  
Gulf States

Abstract Sensationalist accounts of human smuggling from Ethiopia towards Saudi Arabia allege that operations are controlled by criminal networks who converge in a variety of illegal markets posing a threat to national security. Such convergence narratives construct Ethiopian human smuggling as an organized criminal business that extracts profits from and inflicts violence on vulnerable people seeking a clandestine passage to work in the Gulf States. Our ethnographic research in Wollo, Ethiopia, challenges these narratives by showing that smuggling networks are developed through personalised relationships, based on co-ethnic bonds rather than extended and complex criminal networks. Smuggling has emerged in a particular context of surveillance and enforcement and the motives of smugglers are complex, making simple characterizations difficult. Smuggling is enabled by ethnic links on either side of the border where earnings from facilitation boost incomes in an otherwise impoverished context.

scholarly journals Misyar Marriage between Shari`ah texts, Realities and scholars’ Fatawa’: An Analysis

IIUC Studies ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 297-320
Author(s):  
Noor Mohammad Osmani
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Muslim World ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Fixed Duration ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The Real ◽  
Gulf States ◽  
Part Time ◽  
New Form ◽  
Relationship Of

Marriage is a sacred bond in Islam that ties a man and a woman into a lifelong relationship of love, compassion, mutual understanding, respect and security. It is a firm pledge that one makes in the name of Allah for one-another. ‘Misyar marriage’, ‘Convenience marriage’ or ‘Travelers’ marriage’ is a new form of marriage practiced widely in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other gulf states. The ‘Misyar bride’ sacrifices some of her marital rights, such as expenses, fixed duration, and an abode. The scholars in Islam have different opinions about this form of marriage. Some of them supported it vehemently, as it could reduce the number of ladies without husbands; while yet others strongly oppose it, as it sounds like part-time wives, which has no roots in Islamic heritage. The present study therefore aims to explore the real status of ‘Misyar or convenience marriage’ in the texts from the Qur’an, Prophet’s Sunnah, the practices of his rightly guided Companions and the Fatawa of the traditional and modern scholars. It would analyze them in the light of the current realities and situations prevailing in many countries of the Muslim world. The study would adopt a critical yet objective approach in dealing with the issue. It is believed that the study would help the Muslim men and women to have clear insights on the issue based on the Shari`ah texts, scholars’ Fatawa and present day realities. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/iiucs.v7i0.12495 IIUC Studies Vol.7 2011: 297-320

Mixed Messages: Iran versus Saudi Arabia and GCC

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-386
Author(s):  
Debbie Abuelghanam ◽  
Naser Tahboub
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Gulf Region ◽  
Regional Powers ◽  
Regional Group ◽  
Gulf States ◽  
Mixed Messages ◽  
The Relationship

Much has been written about the relationship between Iran and the Gulf states. This relationship, while extremely complex, historic as well as deep rooted, needs to be revisited, especially in the light of the growing discords. This article investigates the contest over the balance of power in the Middle East which is impacted by state interests, foreign policy, ideology, sectarianism, and geography. There are three questions that need to be asked: (a) What role does Iran play in the Gulf region? (b) What is its relationship with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)? and (c) Is there room for the two regional powers (Iran and Saudi Arabia) in the Gulf region? Iran’s role in the Middle East has expanded exponentially by both diplomatic means as well as by proxy and direct interventions. It has become apparent that while once Saudi Arabia controlled the GCC, due to recent events, the regional group has become trivialized. As Saudi Arabia and Iran vie for power, the Gulf is tension-filled and fraught with the possibility of misperceptions and miscalculations.

Background and Context

2020 ◽  
pp. 17-42
Author(s):  
Kristian Coates Ulrichsen
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Abu Dhabi ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Gulf States ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Coup Attempt

This chapter provides historical context to the tensions between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Abu Dhabi from the mid-nineteenth century up until 2011. The chapter covers the emergence of Qatar and the disruptive impact on all the smaller Gulf States, including the UAE, of Saudi expansionary designs on the Arabian Peninsula. Beginning in the 1990s, a new generation of Qatari leaders began to develop political and economic policies that carved a more autonomous role for Qatar in regional affairs. In February 1996, the same four states that would blockade Qatar in 2017 were linked to an abortive coup attempt against the Emir of Qatar, and the chapter ends by examining the aftermath of the coup attempt and the trajectory of Saudi pressure on Qatar in the 2000s.

Saudi Arabia

2019 ◽  
pp. 239-261
Author(s):  
Ghaidaa Hetou
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
National Security ◽  
Political System ◽  
Grand Strategy ◽  
Internal Stability ◽  
Strategic Culture ◽  
Regional Role ◽  
Regional Factors

This chapter evaluates the formulation, implementation, and consistency of Saudi Arabia’s grand strategy since 1979. It examines how internal and regional factors influenced that strategy through the optic of a series of critical regional turning points, often overlain by shifting US debates on the Kingdom’s regional role. The chapter delineates why Saudi elites prioritize certain long-term objectives, how they perceive threats, and why they respond in specific ways. Its guiding conceptual framework is informed by four elements: the Kingdom’s dominant strategic culture, its political system, perception of national security, and regional alliance formations. The chapter demonstrates how the current Saudi establishment’s ability to sustain a grand strategy—primarily a regional role—is closely linked to its economic power, financial solvency, and internal stability.

scholarly journals The Impact of Sectarian Conflict in Syria on Iran-Gulf Relations

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saleem A. Salih Al-Dulaimi ◽  
Mohammad Kamal ◽  
Dalal Mahmoud Elsayed
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Open Approach ◽  
Gulf Region ◽  
Gulf Countries ◽  
Proxy War ◽  
Gulf States ◽  
Sectarian Conflict ◽  
Arab Gulf ◽  
Arab Gulf States ◽  
The Impact

Iran-Gulf relations are a confusing maze of complexities and contradictions. Iran’s voracious aspirations have been manifest in more than one act and place. The 1979 Revolution created a pervasive atmosphere of anxiety and fear in the Gulf region of that revolution’s ideological expansion into the Gulf states, especially those countries in which Shiites form important parts of their societies. In the Iran-Iraq war 1980, on the other hand, the Arab Gulf states supported Iraq against Iran as it was a proxy war to protect the Arab Gulf states, and Saddam Hussein, nevertheless, ended up occupying Kuwait in 1990. And then the Iranian-Gulf relations took a new turn at the time of both presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, who adopted an open approach to the Gulf countries. However, those relations worsened when Ahmadinejad came to power as he started to export the revolutionary thought to the Gulf countries and extended the Iranian influence to Iraq after 2003, to Syria in the aftermath of the revolution that erupted in Syria in 2011 and to the Gulf Cooperation Council states, especially in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain. All this comes at the expense of the Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, which is keen to maintain its influential role in the face of Iranian encroachment in Syria, through the support of the Syrian revolution, which seeks to overthrow Iran's ally in Damascus, Bashar al-Assad. Therefore, this study is trying to find an answer to this question: how has sectarian conflict in Syria impacted the Iranian-Gulf relations?

Out of West Africa: Human Smuggling as a Social Enterprise

2018 ◽  
Vol 676 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Maher
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
West African ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Human Smuggling ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Irregular Migrants ◽  
The Social ◽  
African Migrant

Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic research in Senegal, this article focuses on the sociality of migrant facilitation. Although it has become relatively common in media and policy reports to suggest that irregular migrants are manipulated by greedy and unscrupulous human smugglers, this article shows how migrants in Senegal are often familiar with their handlers and are more likely to call them a friend ( ami) than a criminal. Also, most migrants do not see themselves as “smuggled,” which implies victimhood. Rather, they see themselves as making calculated choices to migrate based on a host of social factors. By exploring the relationships between handlers and migrants, this article reveals the social worlds of negotiation, assistance, and protection that feature prominently in West African migrant narratives and practices.

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