Non-Saudis

My father belong to one of many tribes in Saudi Arabia, his whole family do. 

My mother has another story. 

Her grandfather came from Morocco long long time ago, before there was a nation called Saudi Arabia, he married a tribal woman and they had my grandfather who also married a tribal woman-my grandmother- and had my beautiful mother, who married my tribal father and got me. 

My grandfather witnessed the Ottomans when they were here in Medina, when he died about 10 years ago, he was over 100.

Now, if you know Saudi Arabia, you would know that it's a mix of both. The tribal ones who some of them think they are the REAL Saudis and the non-tribal and there are so many different names for them around here.

This introduction is just a wondering of what if my great grandfather came after the new nation of Saudi Arabia was born, would he get the nationality ? would he be considered to have it ? would my mom be stuck as being a non-Saudi all her life and have a sponsor from one of her kids? would my father torture her to have it or not .

I intended to write about Non-Saudis who were born and raised all their lives sometime ago but the recent Asia tournament kept me and many wonders. 

One of the Qatari players who is very good btw happens to be from my city -Medina- but is not Saudi, left to Qatar , played there and got its nationality. And they are both happy, Qatar and the player Yusef Ahmed.

Then there was this article -Arabic- from a Saudi newspapers, about another 6 young players from Medina who are about to travel to Qatar in an attempt to get the nationality and play there. Two of the six are from Saudi mothers , all six are non-Saudis. And it's not only Qatar but some are playing- after getting the nationality- in Bahrain too. The manager of the team explained how great these players are and how the authority must grant them the nationality especially since some of the players families have been here for over 40 years.

An attorney explained- in the same article- that everyone including those 6 players can apply for the Saudi nationality as long as they have been living here all their lives, they have to be 18 years old, doesn't have  criminal record or been in prison for over 6 months and speak Arabic. 

The lawyer is speaking about conditions that have been stated -and still active-in 20/10/1954 !!!

The view of the non-Saudi around Saudi Arabia is not a good one in general especially those who have been living here for a long time. We are mostly hostile to them and likes to blame them for everything bad happen around the country. And the quickest solution is to send them home !! . 

Which home? when they know no home but this land, they have been born here, raised here, gave help to Saudis in so many ways and yet we are more Saudis than them !!

There is an Arabic forum called mawaleed which means "born"-the whole name is " mawaleed Almamlka"" Saudi Mawaleed" or "Born in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" -, deals only with the issues of the non-Saudis and how can they have the nationality. 

The first video below is with the founder of the forum -Mansor AlHajj-  who  immigrated to the USA because he didn't have the chance despite being born in here and live all his life here to continue his studies. which is a big problem for non-Saudis here.

Another very good point he talks about is the way they are treated in their original country if for any chance they had to leave SA. They are treated like foreigners too despite having the nationality. 

It kills me when he said that if you meet some of the non-Saudi anywhere around Saudi Arabia you wont be able to differentiated between them and the Saudis. 

We talk the same, we look the same, we are the same :( 

He asked what is the man but a  cultural product and the only culture they know is the Saudi. 

He also explained how so many of the non-Saudi are in prison not for a crime they committed but because the lack a resident permit which can not be obtain if you don't have the sponsor. 

Another intwerivew with him where it explined that his grandmother had come from Chad 40 years ago.

And how can they obtain the nationality which they all apply to and given a piece of paper and asked to wait. For how long ? no one can tell. 

One of the members of the forum has been waiting for thirty years.

Yes, they are allowed to study in public schools but not in univeristies or colleges. So they are either going to work , which is not easy to find without a degree or being hired with a very low salaries. 

These decisions are going to be even tougher for non-Saudi women. 

Some of my students have been born here and lived all their lives in SA but had to go back to their coutries after high school because they have no oportuinites to study , they have to go to places they have no feelings for , places they have never been into, soceities they don't understand just because they aren't Saudi enough , a Saudi without the nationality.

The next video explains some of the rules of nationalizing men and women who are born to a Saudi mother but non-Saudi father, which is a very big problem all over the Arabic world where the mother can not give the nationality to her kids.

One of the rule discriminate between men and women despite what the human rights member explained that the system didn't distinguish between the two but still there are discrimination. 

A system inside the system !!!

A journalist in the same video asks that those who were born here and some of them even their parents have been born here should at least have a special position if not the nationality and not to be equal to those who come to work for a specific period of time .

One of the worst images people have for non-Saudis is that they want the nationality for money, because they can have better jobs and better situations. 

But do Saudi themselves have a better life !! not all despite the image that we are all roll in money. And not all have better jobs. 

We don't see them as people with feelings and emotions that make them love this country, love the land that they were born in and would die for. 

This problem is a big one and need to be solved immediately not on political grounds but humanitarian ones, they born here therefore they are no different than anyone else. 

The problem is wide spread all over the Gulf countries where anyone without nationality is called literally "without" without nationality. And lots of them are starting to immigrate to other countries to have a decent living, not an easy decision cuz after all "home is where your heart is" and their hearts are here, in the places they have been born in, raised in, cried in, laughed in, danced in, fall in love in, speak its language, understand its culture and wish to die in.  

Sources:

سعوديون بالقلب و لكن

لاعبين من فريق بالمدينه يستعدون لتقليد يوسف أحمد و يتطلعون للجنسية القطرية

دعوة لمنح المقيمين في الخليج مدة 25 عاما اقامة دائمة

ملتقى مواليد المملكة

بدون خليجيون يلجأون للحصول على جنسية نيوزيلندا

Grown up expat children in quandary over sponsorship switch

Saudi population tops 25m, census plan for 2010