The UAE suffers from a deep demographic imbalance, which is getting worse by the hour.
Some 360,000 people entered the county on work visas in 2006. According to 2005 population census, 8 out of 10 people living in the UAE were born abroad. If the current double digit annual economic growth continues, the percentage of non-citizen will reach 90 per cent by 2015.
Henceforth, by 2025, the citizens of the UAE will constitute zero per cent of the population. A county with a zero percentage citizens is unprecedented in modern history and will make a new entry in the Guinness Book of Records.
The demographic figures alone are frightening and raise serious issues regarding national identity, citizenship, residency, multiculturalism, sustainability and, ultimately, the question as to who is going to be in the driving seat of this rapidly globalising society?
No easy answers are forthcoming and no frank discussion has taken place about the demographic dilemma facing the UAE. The problem is abundantly clear. But what is not so clear is what to do about it and how to effectively deal with its unintended consequences for the sake of the future of the country. All the solutions that have been floating around for the last 30 years turned out to be totally unrealistic.
The few rather practical ideas put through to tackle the growing demographic problem received scant attention. The authorities relentlessly pursue a policy of double digit economic growth that only perpetuates the chronic demographic imbalance.
Dr Jamal was blunt in saying that the UAE has lost the demographic fight for good. To him the problem is beyond repair and the damage is lasting. The policy option he recommends is one of coexistence rather than resistance, which amount to a national suicide for the citizens of the UAE.
The logical conclusion of the proposed coexistence strategy could well be a new social contract whereby the local Emirati minority willingly accept to share power with the overwhelming foreign majority.
The first step is to grant residency which will eventually lead to a permanent citizenship. That could lead to the birth of a fast-globalising society with brand new national identity that is neither Arab nor local but rather multicultural and global in essence.
The end result of this strategy is a 21st century “salad platter” society that would serve as a model and would address all the apparent shortcomings of the “melting pot” model that is not going very well in the United States as it turns into a multicultural society.
Reproduced from Gulf News editorial by : Dr Abdulkhaleq Abdullah is Professor of Political Science at the Emirates University, Al Ain.
