JEDDAH, 22 April 2008 — Some residential compounds in Jeddah are ordering North American and European nationals to leave, citing false information they claim has come from the Interior Ministry.
“All Americans and Europeans nationalities less than 10 persons should be transfer (sic) to another compound which have power full (sic) security,” says one eviction notice from a Jeddah compound, acquired on condition that the newspaper withhold the name of the compound. The notice says the order came from the Interior Ministry.
But Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, the Interior Ministry’s spokesperson, vehemently denied there was a 10-person rule as described in the eviction notice obtained by Arab News.
“Residential compounds for foreigners, similar to any terrorist-targeted areas, are subjected to precautionary security measures to protect their residents,” said Al-Turki.
“The Interior Ministry is keen on prevailing to evaluate and develop its security procedures in combating terrorism and crime. Therefore, it issued reconfirmations (sent to compound administrations) on the importance of continuing the implementation of precautionary security measures and procedures — with no exceptions.”
A source at the Interior Ministry confirmed, on condition of anonymity, that while officially the government makes no distinction among different foreign nationalities, unofficially, compounds housing Western expatriates are under particular scrutiny to maintain their heightened post-2003 security.
Faisal Al-Qahtani, Western regional manager of Saleh Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi Company, which owns and manages Jeddah’s Gardens Compound, disputes Al-Turki’s claim. “We were informed by the ministry that it is pulling out existing military security for those compounds with 10 Western residents or fewer and that those residents are to leave the compound for a government-guarded compound,” Al-Qahtani told Arab News. He added that he was not told this in writing so he could not prove that the ministry made this statement.
Tenants Cry Foul
Wael, a Jordanian-Australian national who had to evict Jeddah’s Dream Compound, said that he and his family had been ordered to leave so that the compound could reduce its heightened security measures, which many tenants (all of whom are non-Western expatriates) say are a nuisance.
Wael also said that when he offered to live in the compound without the heightened security measures, he was told: “The Interior Ministry has refused to allow us to do so as long as there are Western foreign tenants in the compound.” The management then told him he could stay if he changed the nationality on his iqama (residency visa) from Australian to Jordanian. Instead, Wael decided to move.
One of the problems with these forced evictions is that Westerners who want to live in compounds are being forced into the priciest and most secured compounds by this policy.
“I have lived in this compound for more than 20 years,” said Fabrizio Cianni, an Italian resident of the compound that received the eviction notice acquired by Arab News. “I have invested in my home. My two kids grew up here and now I am being told to leave.”
In Cianni’s residential compound there are seven Western families, some of whom are ethnically Arab. The Italian businessman with investments in the Kingdom said that he is willing to sign a letter at his consulate taking full responsibility for his safety to continue to live in his compound even if all security measures are curtailed. Like many compound residents in Jeddah, he considers the heightened security an unnecessary imposition.
Win-Win Situation for Owners
Officially, all compounds must abide by the standing orders to maintain higher levels of security, including blast walls, concertina wire, armed guards, cameras and vehicular searches — measures that were implemented after a series of attacks against Westerners in 2003 in Riyadh. But unofficially, compound administrators are targeting only Western tenants — and once these tenants leave, they are dismantling the security measures and, subsequently, lowering their expenses.
A compound manager, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, called evicting the Western residents “a win-win situation.”
“We save money, as there are expenses tagged with upholding the security measures — electricity, water, telephone, etc.” he said. “We move the blockades surrounding the area, which are narrowing the streets. This provides easier entry for the other tenants without the necessity of them being heavily searched each time. There is no point having 35 government security personnel guard a very small number of residents since the other nationalities are in no need of high security.”
This manager said that his compounds also informed tenants of the rule that compounds with more than 10 Westerners must maintain heightened security, but admitted that he too hasn’t seen anything in writing form the Interior Ministry.
“I didn’t see it, I only heard of it,” he said. “It is with the owner who is currently outside the Kingdom on a vacation.”
One resident said that when his compound greatly increased rent after the security measures were implemented they never specifically stated that the rise in rent was due to the expenses. This particular compound had to install higher walls, concertina wire and security cameras after the 2003 attacks. In addition, compounds have been paying fees to the municipality for the use of streets and sidewalk space for the mandatory blast walls. Without Western tenants, the compounds are unofficially free to remove these walls even if officially all compounds are supposed to have them.
