Every morning one of my important wifely duties is to remind my husband as he leaves for work, "Don’t forget your mobile and your iqama!"
My husband has left his mobile many times but never once his iqama! So much for the very real fear of being stopped by the police and not having an iqama. Even before a non-Saudi enters the Kingdom he hears horror stories of what happens if the police catch a person without his valid residence permit which is known as the iqama.
One popular story which I first heard in the 1970s before I was even able to locate Saudi Arabia on a map was: "There was a Pakistani man whose wife was pregnant and in labor. As he rushed his wife to the hospital, the man understandably forgot to take his iqama with him. On his way home, he was stopped by the police and when he could not produce his iqama, he was put in jail. Released a few weeks later, he found that his wife had died in hospital and that the two children left at home had starved to death."
This is obviously both far-fetched and untrue but amazingly, the story — or a variation of it — is still told in expatriate circles today! What makes it seem possible is that most of us know how inflexible and lacking in understanding the police can be. Of course, expatriates are supposed to carry their iqamas at all times. This is the law and there is nothing wrong with it. At the same time, to err is human and to be forgetful sometimes is natural. Why then are expatriates so terrified of being caught without their iqamas? For want of official information, rumors and gossip have a frightening effect on many expatriates. We must also admit in fairness that sometimes the way a policeman treats an expatriate without his iqama contributes to the general unease.
A close friend in Jeddah, whom I will call Ahmad, had submitted his iqama for renewal. He had a valid, officially stamped paper from the passport office which stated this fact. This is the standard legal procedure when an iqama is renewed; it has been standard procedure for decades. Ahmad was stopped by the police that morning as he was getting into his car. The policeman refused to accept the valid papers and demanded Ahmad’s iqama. He refused to understand that the iqama was being renewed. Ahmad was taken into custody and spent the day in the police car while the policeman made his rounds. Ahmad was not allowed to make a phone call, go to a mosque at prayer time or even to eat! The ordeal lasted 12 hours and Ahmad was finally released at 11 p.m. Ahmad’s wife was of course frantic as she knew he had not been to work. She was convinced that he had had an accident and feared the worst.
Certainly not all policemen are thoughtless and inconsiderate. Many are courteous and helpful. But it is the ones that Ahmad had to deal with that create the kind of fear that is exploited and taken advantage of. Do you know, for instance, about the pickpocket gang?
Many people have lost their iqamas out of their own pockets while they were at Friday prayers. As the victim looks frantically for his iqama, someone mysteriously appears and says: "I can get your iqama back for SR500." After some haggling, a price is agreed upon. The iqama then appears in a day or two at an agreed-upon location. The expatriate never goes to the police because there is a hefty fine for losing an iqama and an advertisement has to be put in the newspaper announcing the loss. The whole procedure is cumbersome, expensive and time-consuming. So much easier to pay a smaller amount and get the iqama back!
And furthermore, so bad was this problem at a certain mosque in Jeddah that after Friday prayers, the imam regularly reminded people to take care of their iqamas as pickpockets were after them. In the end, the police were able to put a stop to the gang and its activities.
Reforms are being made in the Kingdom everyday. Perhaps someone needs to look into the way the police treat members of the public, both Saudis and non-Saudis. After all, the police should inspire respect plus a feeling of security and safety rather than the presently all too common fear and fright.