Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
12. Yıldız Sosyal Bilimler Kongresi, İstanbul, Türkiye, 3 - 07 Aralık 2025, (Özet Bildiri)
Gulf States
host long-term African migrants, expatriate communities and second-generation
residents who often live with limited uncertain political status and limited
upward mobility. Citizenship policies and migration controls in Gulf monarchies
reproduce exclusionary categories that shape how African identity is recognized
or denied in state and society. Recent policy shifts on permanent residency
pathways complicate but do not resolve existing dynamics. Understanding these
dynamics is essential for debates on rights, regional diplomacy, inclusivity
and social justice in a changing Gulf, this work examines how state laws, labor
regimes, and social hierarchies produce political exclusion for Africans in the
Gulf, and how affected communities navigate identity and seek recognition. This
paper analyzed policy documents, legal texts, and media narratives across two
Gulf cases (e.g., UAE and Saudi Arabia). Findings show that exclusion is driven
by restrictive nationality laws and labor governance (Kafala), racialized
hierarchies, and limited diplomatic protection at the state level, producing
layered political marginalization for the Gulf-born Africans. Simultaneously,
African migrants and African second-generation non-citizens are key to the
economic development in the Gulf States despite not obtaining the same rewards
and benefits as Gulf citizens. This study addresses a gap in the work done on
Gulf States and migration that put emphasis on South Asian labor migration,
while the political dimensions of African identity and recognition remain
understudied. Exploring why Africans are systematically excluded helps us
reveal and understand deeper issues about race and national identity in the Gulf.