Abdul Bari has been in this country for over 40 years. He came here from Pakistan at the age of three with his parents, and older siblings. Over the years Abdul Bari educated himself through Saudi schools at a time when anyone could take up the opportunity for learning, and is today dependably taking care of the business of an elderly Saudi family here in Jeddah. His honest association with this family since his youth has resulted in him being entrusted with all their financial affairs.
But Abdul Bari has a problem. While his father years ago managed to apply for and get citizenship for his elder brothers and sisters some 35 years ago, Abdul Bari’s issue was somehow delayed due to his young age. With the passing of the years, his father died, and Abdul Bari’s application for citizenship was slowly filtered out of the window.
For a while, it was not much of a bother. But as he got older and wanted to start his own family, his status as an alien complicated getting approvals, among a host of other problems. And with the passage of time, as citizenship laws became more restrictive, his desire to obtain the nationality and settle here permanently became more fraught with uncertainty.
And once his own children were of school age, the issue of attending government schools was out of the question. And today, after his son graduated from the Pakistani school, Abdul Bari faces the dilemma as to what to do with his eager son. With our universities restricting admission to foreigners, he is understandably concerned as he does not relish sending his son abroad, even to Pakistan where Abdul Bari’s family ties have eroded over the decades and his offspring would be a stranger to the culture they would be thrust into.
Abdul Bari is but one of a multitude of fathers and mothers in similar situations. From the continent of Africa to the far corners of Asia, these people or their forefathers at one time moved here to this country. It was not the lure of wealth or the prospect of making it big during the oil boom years. Many have been here prior to that era. Instead, most had made the perilous journey then in their quest to be blessed by the beacons of Islam.
Having come here and settled down decades ago, they find themselves today facing gut-wrenching situations requiring decisions that often split the family apart. They have lived as Saudis, learned as Saudis, worked as Saudis, and prayed as Saudis, but are not Saudis. And they are not accepted as Saudis. And the bureaucratic challenges in obtaining Saudi citizenship do not bode well for most of these people.
Many of them today cannot think up of another place to call home. Even the lands of their ancestry would seem alien to their locally grown family; the culture, the language, the food, and just about everything else! And as their children come of age and require further education or jobs, some will reluctantly attempt to pack up and re-enter their own societies, while others will make plans to move westwards to more alien cultures just as grudgingly.
And so I pose the question with a degree of wonderment. Would it not be justly right to grant those facing such painful uncertainties and who wish so, the rights and benefits of full citizenship? While citizenship is being given out, the process is often extremely frustrating with requirements of documents dating back several decades. Why not facilitate the application process and speedily absorb this rich talent and wealth within our own land rather than seeing it drained to elsewhere?
That way we would increase the diversity within our society, and enhance it with a whole host of sub-cultures that would only serve the nation well.
Within families, inbreeding often spells the beginning of extinction and doom. Within nations, it can only lead to the stifling of growth and enrichment.
— Tariq A. Al-Maeena, ([email protected])
