Expat life in the Arabian Peninsula
General history and background
The Arabian Peninsula is located southwest of Asia in the Middle Eastern Region. It is bounded by the Red Sea from the west, the Arab Sea from the south, and Iraq, Jordan, and Israel from the north.
From the east, it is bounded by the Arabian Gulf (also known as the Persian Gulf). There is historical proof for the Persian Gulf name, however it is highly insulting to call it by that name in the Arab world.
The region controls the two of the most essential straits in the world. The first is the Strait of Hormuz which has a significant percentage of the world’s oil passing through it, between UAE and Oman from the West and Iran from the East.
Second is the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, which all passing ships from the famous Suez Channel must go through.
Bab Al-Mandab is between Somalia and Djibouti (from the west) and Yemen (from the east). This infamous strait is where we see Somali pirate attacks on the news to this day.
The Arabian Peninsula consists of Yemen and the six Gulf Council Countries (GCC), ranked per their sizes, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Sultanate of Oman, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and Kingdom of Bahrain.
Some references consider Iraq part of the GCC by the fact Iraq has access to the Gulf, but Iraq has never been part of GCC and relationships were greatly damaged after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait August 2nd 1990.
The official language in these countries is Arabic and the official religion is the Islam.
Expats in the gCC
Working and living in any foreign country is challenging, and even more challenging is life in these countries. These countries have vast fortunes (primarily in the form of oil and gas) and a tiny local population.
The fortunes of these states are controlled by the kings, the sultan, or the Sheikhs. Saudi and Bahrain is a kingdom, Oman is Sultanate, and the rest are Emirates ruled by Sheikhs.
All these countries have a substantial expatriate population living there, most of them work legally in these countries due to immigration laws being very strict.
However, a very small minority of illegals do exist. These individuals came to the country mostly legally and their residency card (locally called Iqama) or touristic visas expired causing them to stay.
If caught, these illegal individuals will be deported immediately and receive a lifetime ban from entering the country (in modern times this is enforced by bio-metrics which makes it impossible to get in again with a different name or passport).
Also, it seems that there is also some use to enter some of these countries illegally through smugglers from land and sea port of entries, these activities are constantly being cracked down by authorities. I was contracted to build a large fence along one of the ports in UAE to control these illegal activities.
Some expats I met (mostly Indians and Pakistanis) were born in these countries as a result of their families moving there for work. They grew up, got educated and got employed in these countries, and only visit their original country during vacations.
When any expat (even the ones born there) hit the age of 62 or 65 (the maximum age limit can vary depending on the country), they cannot work anymore (with very strict exceptions), and they have to leave the country or transfer to their kids sponsorship if they had Iqama or investments there in shape of properties or businesses.
You can never be naturalized even if you were born there, and no matter how long you live there or invest there.
Who lives in these countries
The people with nationalities in these countries are called “Muwaten” the Arabic for “local.” You can only be local if your father is a local or you are a female who got married to a local man.
If you are a man married to a local woman or if your mother is local, but your dad is not, then you will have Iqama, but you will never be a local national.
Being a local is important because the government there pays excellent attention to locals to make them happy.
Being a local makes you eligible for loans with no interests, grants for education, loans to opening businesses, land gifts for young men to build a house (at least in UAE and Qatar, but not in Saudi), and grants to build their house (in UAE it was up to $200k) to help the population to get married.
Also, they are eligible to receive gifts in the form of cash and grants for every kid.
The government enforces a quota system for all companies to hire locals. Locals can sponsor businesses and make extra money from that, and they have many other privileges and the government always gives the locals priority in everything.
All GCC countries are Islamic countries that are predominantly Sunni with a minority Shia population. In all GCC countries the rule of the land is the Islamic Sharia law.
Some states have stricter Islamic laws than others. For example, UAE is more relaxed in their Sharia law implementation while Saudi is very strict. Locals tend to feel superior and usually segregate themselves from expats, and in some countries they can be abusive to non-locals.
All locals are Arabs (except women marrying a local), and all of them must be Muslim (even women married to local guys they must convert).
In UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar there is freedom of religion to a great extent. There is one “religious center” in Doha, one in Sharjah, and Dubai where you can find one catholic, one orthodox church, one Hindu and Buddhist temple and of course one big Friday mosque.
These are big developments, away from the city and it is heavily guarded to ensure the safety of people from the religious extremists (that do exist but not encouraged, and the government tries to crack down on these individuals) in these three countries.
In Saudi you will find no churches, but there are some secret masses in some American compounds, embassies, and houses. If caught in these hidden places, you will be punishable by imprisonment and deportation and life ban from entering Saudi.
However, I lived more than four years in Saudi and did not hear any crackdowns by the government despite being illegal.
Weather
The other challenge that people face in these countries is “heat.” The heat starts around May and ends around October and peaks in June, July, and August.
The average temperature at noon can reach 110-120 °F (around 45 -50 °C). In coastal cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Manama, and Doha, the relative humidity can reach up to 70 to 95 %, making the simple task of breathing very hard.
However, the weather in December, January, and February are beautiful, and you see people all on the streets and outdoor restaurants all the time.
In cities like Dubai, Riyadh, Doha, and Manama, you see malls and restaurants open till midnight weekdays and after midnight on weekends (Thursday night and Friday nights).
Dubai is known for having their famous malls open 24 hours during certain periods of the year (Ramadan, the two Eids, Christmas and new year times and some years during February shopping festival). It started in 2010 during the Dubai recession after the 2009 global recession, and it continues till this day.
Arab Clothing
The other thing all these countries have in common is the way locals get dressed. In general, men wear white “Thob” (Arabic for dress or clothing) and women wear black long dresses with long sleeves and headscarf.
In some countries, local women should wear Abaya and Burga (to cover the face and you see only the eyes, and in some Saudi areas, even the eyes should be covered). In winter, men might change the color of the Thob to darker color like brown or gray.
Men usually have a headscarf too, and the color and the imprint of the headpiece change from country to country, and from tribe to tribe. Even the way they wear it differs from one place to another.
I might do a separate blog on this topic because the type of clothing and headpiece for both men and women say a great deal about their culture and where are they from. Also, each country has certain restrictions on how expats wear their clothes.
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