The tension surrounding the Syrian refugee crisis has been escalating as various European nations have come under attack for not doing enough to help out.

But recently news of the Saudi government actually taking action to ensure that such help cannot be extended has been a bit shocking. The Saudi Arabian government has banned its citizens from adopting Syrian orphans.

Arab News reported about this development and got quotes from some crucial government officials on the matter.

Latifah Al-Tamimi, director of social supervision at the ministry in the Eastern Province, strongly disapproved of such effort for the children who lost their parents to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

"The ministry does not sponsor Arab children who lost their parents in conflicts, such as in Syria and Iraq. There are global humanitarian organizations that deal with these cases," she said.

The exception to the rule is when Saudi men are married to foreign women, in which scenario the child's adoption is legitimate.

Abdullah Makki, a former Islamic science professor at Um Al-Qura University, had a very different take on the whole issue and told the Arab publication that Islam, as a religion, supported such adoptions.

"Islam encourages Muslims to embrace orphans so that they are raised in a family environment," he said.

Two recent reports about the Syrian refugee crisis have been particularly chilling -- one about a driverless truck, with the dead bodies of migrants found in the carriage, and the drowning of a child en route to Europe. The refugee crisis has not only stunned the world but everybody has been looking to Europe and England to see how they deal with the situation. While some countries, like Germany are trying to step up to the challenge, others like England are waffling.

Tags: saudi arabia syria