Gulf responses to Syrian refugee arrivals in Lebanon: narratives of legitimisation

Abstract

This paper focuses on Gulf states’ responses to Syrian arrivals in Lebanon since 2011. It explores the dynamics of aid governance of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Among the international donor community and scholars, a widespread narrative stigmatises Gulf humanitarian donorship as being the result of Gulf states’ strategic choices. In the particular case of Lebanon, this narrative posits that they have been using aid to support Syrian opposition groups and to promote political alliances. With a constructivist perspective, this paper assesses the existence of alternative narratives discrediting these claims. By looking at the everyday experiences of humanitarian professionals in Lebanon, it analyses discursive narratives of legitimisation taking shape at the field level, among observers and participants of Gulf interventions, and challenges conventional narratives on Gulf donorship as purely politically motivated. The research has revealed a narrative of religious humanitarianism legitimising Gulf support by presenting it as the result of a moral necessity; legitimisation through identification with legitimate symbols such as ‘the local’; and ‘pragmatic’ legitimisation praising their visibility on the field and their concrete efficiency.