RIYADH: An official of the Civil Affairs Department at the Ministry of Interior said his agency is currently studying the issue of the Bidoon (stateless people) in the Kingdom.
“The study on the immigrant tribes has been launched with the aim of finding solutions to their problems,” he said, referring to the nomadic tribes who settled in Saudi Arabia.
Recently the Ministry of Education also took steps to facilitate the admission of children of these tribal people to all levels of schools and issued a circular to that effect. Parents need only to show their residence permits, even if they are outdated, for the admission of their children until their status issue is finally settled.
The resident permits are being issued to the tribes for a period of five years.
Zuhair Al-Harithy, the spokesman for the National Society for Human Rights, said last week that the commission would set up a committee to study the problems of stateless people in the Kingdom.
Their major demand was Saudi citizenship, and removing the obstacles in the way of their children’s education and medical care.
The Arabian Peninsula is home to a large population of nomadic or rural-sedentary Arabs. Many tribespeople still live in Bedouin encampments (or small out-of-the-way villages) without any civil status. Some still cross back and forth over borders into neighboring states, following rain patterns and grazing pastures for their camel herds.
Saudi Arabia is home to a large population of these stateless Arabs who, due to their culture and rugged independent lifestyle, haven’t become officially recognized as citizens of the country. A lack of civil status shuts these Bedouin out of social benefits. Many lack IDs, which can also be problematic when they cross international borders with their herds.
