OhYahMal, yes, the ministry fears other Arabs. They have the language skills to get involved in local life, and unlike the "Western" expats they tend to make a long-term life here and agitate for further rights. You've seen similar in Kuwait where the government has been using any excuse to get rid of the "Palestinians", Syrians and Egyptians and replace them with South Asians. They don't want the South Asians really, the work is done much better and more efficiently by the Arabs, primarily because of language skills, but they also agitate for greater rights, which the locals don't want.