Before becoming Lebanese Minister of Information, George Kordahi had detonated a political bomb on the “Youth Parliament” program on Al-Jazeera channel when he said that “the Houthis in Yemen are defending themselves against a foreign aggression,” and described the war in Yemen as “futile”. Kordahi had delivered that statement on August 5, 2021, i.e. about a month before becoming Minister of Information in Najib Mikati’s government on September 10, 2021. But the “Youth Parliament” episode was aired on October 27, 2021, and soon generated a wave of overwhelming Saudi and Gulf anger, which only added to the previous problems both sides have had with Lebanon.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry thus issued a statement in response to the Lebanese minister of information and summoned Lebanese Ambassador to Riyadh Fawzi Kabbara, to whom it delivered an official letter of protest against those statements and asked him to leave. Likewise, Saudi Arabia pulled out its ambassador Waleed Bukhari from Beirut, and stopped all Lebanese exports to its territories (Asharq al-Awsat newspaper).
In its statement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said that the latter statements “violate the most basic political customs and do not go in line with the historical relations between the two brotherly populations.”
Apparently, the subsequent clarification issued by the minister of information was not enough, seeing as how the summoning of the ambassadors from Lebanon was also done by other states such as the Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Yemen.
In this politically and diplomatically charged climate, various Lebanese news sites carried reports on November 7, 2021 featuring “leaked information” that Lebanese residents in the Gulf States had been divided into three color categories in order to facilitate selected expulsions. In none of the reports was a clear source indicated. Instead, most sites used terms such as “according to information,” or “journalistic information indicated,” while some sites even relied on a statement “issued by the meeting of the interior ministries in the Gulf Cooperation Council,” which later turned out to be false (VDL News).
The categories were variously said to be:
Black: Includes the members of Hezbollah, Amal Movement, the Free Patriotic Movement, the Marada Movement, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, the Ba’th Party, the Arab Unification Party, the Nasserist Party, all the supporters of Hezbollah, and Shi’is not in the exempted category (White). All those concerned are being informed that they need to leave the GCC countries within 7 days from the date they are notified, noting that this color category includes around 72,000 residents (and their families).
Gray: Includes all those who did not organizationally belong to one of the so-called Lebanese “sovereign parties” (i.e. Lebanese political parties opposed to Syria, Iran and Hezbollah) before August 1, 2021. This category will be prevented from renewing its work permits starting 1/1/2022, and will be gradually deported upon the expiry of their contracts. It includes around 250,000 residents, not to mention the families.
White: Includes all those who officially belonged to one of the so-called “sovereign” parties before 1/8/2021, the journalists working in Gulf media outlets, those carrying golden and special visas, the advisors in the public sector, the employees in foreign embassies, and those who have a security clearance.
Some of the websites that carried the report included, (Voice of Lebanon), (Lebanese Phalanges website), (Sawt Beirut website), among others.
The news generated confusion among the Lebanese working in the Gulf and their families in Lebanon, noting that unofficial statistics estimate the number of the latter to exceed 400,000 in all the Gulf states, including around 200,000 people in Saudi Arabia alone. On social media, predictably, confusion quickly turned to deep concern in light of the economic and financial collapse that has been sweeping Lebanon since 2019, and which has significantly deepened since the Beirut Port explosion on August 4, 2020, the paralysis affecting political life, and the failure to reach a fast agreement over a relief plan for Lebanon with the International Monetary Fund. Indeed, many Lebanese are living off of the transfers in hard currency being sent by their children or members of their families who work abroad and especially in the Gulf.
The commotion generated by the report soon turned out to be a media maneuver, however, aimed at terrifying the Lebanese and hastening the resignation of Kordahi, who insisted on staying in his post until December 3. In fact, as official denial was quickly issued by the Lebanese minister of labor, who assured that the news about color coding and upcoming expulsions were mere rumors. Likewise, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry made sure to deny the information to websites that proactively inquired about its veracity (Lebanon 24 website).
Then, on November 20, 2021, Saudi Ambassador to Beirut Waleed Bukhari revealed that “the Kingdom does not operate based on reactions, and there will be no deportation of the Lebanese from the Kingdom or the Gulf States.” Bukhari was speaking to Lebanese journalists during a vigil organized in solidarity with Saudi Arabia, and his statement was relayed by the National News Agency.
