Seven countries are observer states—a status that entitles them to express their opinion and give advice but denies them voting rights.[9] These are Eritrea, where Arabic is one of the official languages, as well as Brazil and Venezuela, which have large and influential Arab communities.[10]India is another observer of the Arab League, with a sizable number of people claiming Arab descent.[9]Armenia was granted observer status in 2004.[11]Chad was granted observer status in 2005.[12] Greece became an observer state in 2021.[13]
January 2003 – Eritrea joins the Arab League as an observer.
2003 – Brazil joins the Arab League as an observer for one summit.
2004 – Armenia joins the Arab League as an observer.
April 2005 – Chad joins the Arab League as an observer.
September 2006 – Venezuela joins the Arab League as an observer for one summit.
April 2007 – India joins the Arab League as an observer state for the summit.
22 February 2011 – Libya suspended from the Arab League;[16] readmitted on 25 August 2011.
July 2011 – South Sudan gains independence from Sudan, but does not join the Arab League.[17]
16 November 2011 – Syria suspended from the Arab League.
7 May 2023 – Syria readmitted to the Arab League.[18]
Potential members and observers
Only two countries where Arabic is an official language remain outside of the League: Chad and Mali. In Eritrea and South Sudan, although Arabic is not an official language, a dialect of the language is spoken by portions of the populations in these countries. Additionally, there are two other Arabic-speaking states with limited recognition – Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Somaliland – but their disputed status, being claimed by League members Morocco and Somalia respectively, makes their membership unlikely for the foreseeable future.
Chad's membership was endorsed by the Egyptian government under Hosni Mubarak in 2010.[19] Chad applied for membership on 25 March 2014.[20] Arabic is one of its two official languages, some 12% of Chadians identifying as Arab[21] and around 900,000 are Arabic-speaking.[22] Chad has had observer status since 2005.[23]
South Sudan declared its independence from League member state Sudan in July 2011. A clause in the Charter of the Arab League accords the right of territories that have seceded from an Arab League member state to join the organization.[24] South Sudan has been assured full membership in the Arab League should its government choose to seek it.[25] Alternatively, the nation could opt for observer status.[26] It has indicated that it would not be joining the League since the government believes it does not meet the pre-conditions for membership; specifically, that "the League requires that the countries must be Arabic speaking countries that consider Arabic language the main language of the nation; on top of that, the league also requires that the people of that particular country must believe that they are actually Arabs. The people of Southern Sudan are not of Arabic origin, so I don't think there will be anybody in Southern Sudan who will consider joining the Arab League".[27] In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, the Foreign Minister of South Sudan Deng Alor Kuol said: South Sudan is the closest African country to the Arab world, and we speak a special kind of Arabic known as Juba Arabic.[28] Sudan supports South Sudan’s request to join the Arab League.[29] South Sudan applied for observer status in March 2018.[30][31]
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is not a member though it is recognized by some Arab League states. Its status is disputed, its territory being claimed by League member Morocco, which makes its membership unlikely for the foreseeable future.
Egypt - Egypt's membership was suspended in March 1979 after it signed the Egypt–Israel peace treaty and the League's headquarters were moved from Cairo to Tunis. In 1987, Arab League states restored diplomatic relations with Egypt, the country was readmitted to the League in May 1989 and the League's headquarters were moved back to Cairo in September 1990.[32]
Libya - Libya was suspended from the Arab League on 22 February 2011, following the start of the Libyan Civil War and the use of military force against civilians.[33][16] That makes Libya the second country in the League's history to have a frozen membership. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi declared that the League was illegitimate, saying: "The Arab League is finished. There is no such thing as the Arab League".[34][35] On 27 August 2011, the Arab League voted to restore Libya's membership by accrediting a representative of the National Transitional Council, which was partially recognised as the interim government of the country in the wake of Gaddafi's ouster from the capital of Tripoli.[36]
Syria - On 20 September 2011, the Arab Parliament recommended suspension of Syria and Yemen over persistent reports of disproportionate violence against regime opponents and activists during the Arab Spring.[37] On 12 November 2011, the League passed a decree that would suspend Ba'athist Syrian Arab Republic's membership if the government failed to stop violence against civilian protesters by 16 November 2011 amidst the uprising.[38] Syria, Lebanon and Yemen voted against the motion, and Iraq abstained.[38] Despite the opportunity, the Syrian government did not yield to the League's demands, resulting in its indefinite suspension. There was criticism after the Arab League sent in December 2011 a commission "monitoring" violence on people protesting against the regime. The commission was headed by Mohammad Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, who served as head of Omar al-Bashir's military intelligence, while war crimes, including genocide, were allegedly committed on his watch.[39][40][41] On 6 March 2013, the Arab League granted to the Syrian National Coalition Syria's seat in the Arab League.[42] On 9 March 2014, the League's secretary general Nabil al-Arabi said that Syria's seat at the Arab League would remain vacant until the opposition completes the formation of its institutions.[43]
In 2021, the Arab League initiated a process of normalisation between Syria and other Arab nations. In the aftermath of the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia as well as Oman and Bahrain had sought better relations with Syria. There is a consensus in the Arab world that the isolation of the Syrian government is not conducive to peace and prosperity in the region.[44]
On 7 May 2023, at the meeting of the Council of the Arab League composed of foreign ministers in Cairo, was agreed to reinstate Syria's membership.[45] Earlier, Kuwait and Qatar had opposed Bashar al-Assad’s presence at the Arab League summit. The regional normalisation effort had caught the U.S. and its European allies by surprise, as they were opposing a Jordan-led "Arab-led political initiative" in solving the crisis.[46] According to the statement, al-Assad would be allowed to the meeting on 19 May 2023, if "he wishes to do so". Nevertheless, Syria remains under international sanctions after millions of Syrians had been displaced or sought refuge in Arab and European countries during the civil war. The changes to the relations between Syria and other Arab States would allow many of them to return to their homeland, according to the announcements made earlier by Jordanian and Saudi officials.[47]
^Kenner, D. (27 December 2011). "The World's Worst Human Rights Observer". Foreign Policy. As Arab League monitors work to expose President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown, the head of the mission is a Sudanese general accused of creating the fearsome "Janjaweed," which was responsible for the worst atrocities during the Darfur genocide.
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