Saudi Arabia has offered a solution to assist the wave of Syrian and proposed to build 200 mosques in Germany to accommodate Muslim refugees there if German authorities permit, according to media reports Thursday.
Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar, “have offered zero resettlement places to Syrian refugees,” according to an Amnesty International report from December 2014, reported France24 News. Meanwhile, several neighbouring countries, like Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq have taken in several refugees.
The Lebanese newspaper Ad-Diyar first reported the offer last week, citing a request by a committee of sheikhs. Saudi Arabia also vowed to donate at least $200 million, according to the Lebanese paper, although whether that was to support the refugees or to build the suggested mosques was unclear.
The offer, that is pending approval from German authorities, comes after wealthy Gulf nations have been criticized for doing little to offer refuge to Syrians and Iraqis displaced by the civil war. Despite being a part of the US-led coalition to fight the Islamic State (Isis) militants in Syria and Iraq, wealthy Gulf nations have not been at the forefront as the migrant crisis looms over Europe.