Al-Buraimi Case Study

Al-Buraimi Oasis Dispute
The Al-Buraimi is an Oasis town that borders the United Arab Emirates and is adjacent to the city of Al Ain which belongs to the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The Geographical Landscape of this Oasis town is extremely different from its neighbor the city of Al Ain because its mostly gravel and rocks. Also, the city of Al-Buraimi is smaller in size than Al Ain which results in it being less prosperous than its neighbor. For decades, the cities of Al-Buraimi and Al Ain have had an open border between them but that has ended in 2006 when it was relocated and now has border security and barbed wire. To cross the border expatriates need valid visas; However, GCC nationals do not require visas to enter the city. Moreover, this study
The Saudi Government claimed that their territory encompassed the liwa oasis, a strip of land on the Qatari Peninsula, as well as the Omani Border lands and the Buraimi Oasis. In 1949 the British Government rejected these outrageous claims and the Saudi’s responded by expanding their claim. Later on the Saudi Government cemented plaques with their kings name on rijims in various islands which were later dynamited by the British. To try and prove their claim on the territory the Saudi Government protested that they had been collecting zakat from local tribes in the liwa oasis since 1913 but the British countered by pointing out that zakat has no basis in international law. Afterwards the Saudi Government attempted to convince the residents of Al-Buraimi to subject to their authority. In the 1950’s the flourishing oil industry provided the Saudi government revenue which it could use as a tool to bolster its claim in the region. In Addition, the Saudi’s turned to the tribes of Al-Buraimi for an alliance but most of the villages were under the rule of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan who would later become the first president of the United Arab Emirates. The Saudi’s needed time to win over the Buraimi Sheikhs so they requested the creation of a joint commission which was made up of representatives from the Saudi’s and the British. While the commission was being created the political secretary of the King of Saudi Arabia, Yusuf Yasin, petitioned the British to prevent any new operations from occurring in the disputed areas. The aim of this request was the prevention of oil exploration in the disputed areas that belonged to the British. The British heavily relied on the treaty between the Ibn Saud and the Ottoman Empire to solve the