A Saudi writer tells of an expatriate university teacher who had lived in the Kingdom for 10 years. When the expatriate was asked what he thought of Saudi society, he confessed that his knowledge was very limited despite his long residence in the country. He felt in fact that he was not qualified to give an assessment. The reason, he explained, was the cultural and social isolation that Saudis impose on foreigners. “Your society,” said the professor to the writer, “is determined to reject all forms of mixing and integration with an expatriate culture.”

The Kingdom’s social fabric is such that the people of the country have designed their lives in a way that guarantees almost total separation from outsiders. It is like a two-story building, one floor inhabited by Saudis and the other by foreigners. Each has their separate entrance leading to their own world. Saudis don’t seem interested in benefiting from the historic opportunity of having many different cultures on their doorstep.

The professor admitted that he and his family had failed to cope with the situation and decided to return to their country, blaming the cultural isolation they experienced for turning the country into a collection of expatriate ghettos about whom Saudis know very little.

Unlike Saudis, expatriates involve themselves with, and enjoy, the mosaic of foreign cultures even when the indigenous culture continues to be out of their reach.

Let us consider the following to establish the authenticity of what the professor was talking about. It comes down to the simple fact that we Saudis are behaving wrongly.

• As one of the world’s largest importers of foreign labor, our country still lacks a reliable alien registration system which would prevent such mistakes as a foreigner waiting to board a plane being asked to pay for a traffic violation committed by his Saudi sponsor.

• Official government agencies continue to treat expatriates as if they do not exist or, in the best of cases, their presence is of no significance.

• Until very recently, Channel 2 of Saudi Television broadcast in English and French and was the only source of information and entertainment for an estimated four million expatriates. Suddenly the channel became a sports channel, broadcasting mostly in Arabic. Millions were thus denied the only source of information in a language they could understand.

• Some expatriates have lived among us for 20 or more years and when they return home, all they take with them of our magnificent language is a few words of broken Arabic.

How many expatriates have left our country with pleasant memories? How many with unpleasant ones? Who is to blame for this? Could it be a culture that makes people look down on foreigners and ignorance and failure to master the art of communicating with others?

Arab News From the Local Press 8 July 2003