RIYADH, 6 April 2004 — They are caught between two worlds. Born and raised in the Kingdom, the children of expatriates find that once they leave high school they cannot enter higher education here.
Their status does not allow them to settle down, nor is it easy to find a suitable marriage partner — either here or in the country of their origin. There too, many look on them as strangers.
Ahmad Hussain from Hyderabad, India has been living in the Kingdom since 1976. His daughter was born in Makkah and raised and educated in the Kingdom.
Now she has completed her higher education in India, her father wants her to come back and settle in Saudi Arabia.
“I work in Saudi Arabia, and I would prefer to find a son-in-law who lives in the Kingdom because I want my daughter to be here with me,” Hussain told Arab News.
“Life here is very different from life in India. We have no financial problems in this country; my daughter has a better chance here.”
“I would love to settle here,” said Abdul Bari, a 30-year-old pharmacist from Bangalore, India.
He said he has more scope in Saudi Arabia than in his home country but added: “It’s not that easy” to find a marriageable partner. After living in Saudi Arabia for several years, he said he experiences a reverse culture shock when he returns to India.
“It becomes hard to cope with life there, but that lasts for about six months. You’re shocked, but then you adjust,” he says.
But not everyone does.
Sadaf, 22, is from Pakistan and has spent much of her life in the Kingdom. She says there is often a wide culture gap between her and other girls of her age in Pakistan. Accustomed to Saudi life, customs and social mores, she said that life in Pakistan sometimes seems alien to her and she finds it hard to fit in.
Young expatriate men who have been raised in the Kingdom are more likely to continue living and working here if they find suitable employment, but young girls who have lived in the country for decades are sometimes left with no choice but to marry men in their own country. Some are able to adjust, but others find only heartbreak.
F. is an American citizen of Pakistani descent and spent several years in the Kingdom.
However, soon after completing high school, she was married to a young man in Pakistan.
She found that her Western/Saudi upbringing clashed with the culture and traditions in her home country and was continually frustrated by the cultural barriers and communication gap between herself and her own people.
A brother and sister both born and raised in Saudi Arabia married in Pakistan, but years later, they continue to look back on their life in Saudi Arabia with nostalgia. “We lived the high life in Saudi Arabia,” said the sister. There are numerous reasons why expatriate children raised in Saudi Arabia go through an identity crisis.
Being born in the Kingdom does not earn them resident status, nor does the fact that they have spent a lifetime in this country guarantee them the same rights and privileges as Saudis.
The status of expatriates is the same after 30 years in the Kingdom as the day they arrive. Expatriate children can have their home taken from them at any time if their parents lose their job.
Many have grown roots here, many have never known any other home. They may feel as uprooted as any refugee when they suddenly have to leave. Going back is not easy, nor is being accepted back into a culture that has long forgotten them.
