JEDDAH, 28 October 2004 — Many expatriates are expected to take advantage of the new citizenship law to apply for Saudi nationality.
“My whole family is Saudi,” says Marcelo da Silva, a 29-year old Brazilian. Da Silva lost his Brazilian father at a very young age and his mother, a Muslim, is Saudi through marriage. All his younger siblings are Saudis. “I have no life or real family outside Saudi Arabia. I love the country and it is frustrating being a second class citizen in a place I feel is home to me,” he said.
When Arab News asked him about his current nationality status he said that he also had US citizenship which he would drop instantly to get Saudi citizenship. “I have lived here continuously for the past 10 years but it’s inconvenient when it comes to matters of business,” he said.
Asmaa Nabil, formerly Carol, is an American who has lived in Riyadh for more than 20 years. She too is eager to acquire Saudi citizenship. “I’d feel safer with Saudi nationality. My children are Saudi and with the way things are happening in the world, I’d feel better knowing that I’ve the means to be in the same country and be from the same country as my children. My children get taunted at school because their mother is American, especially in light of what’s been happening. Saudi nationality won’t darken my skin or change the color of my hair, but still it would make a difference,” Asmaa said.
Asmaa voiced her concern about the Arabic language fluency condition in the Saudi citizenship clause. “I’m worried that my Arabic isn’t going to be good enough. I can make do with my spoken Arabic but when it comes to written Arabic, it’s hopeless. It’s just too hard,” she added.
Muhammad Al-Wadie, a Yemeni, said that asking why he wanted to become a Saudi was like asking the question ‘why are you staying at home?’ He was born in the Kingdom more than 45 years ago. “The new citizenship law came at the right time,” he said. “I know nothing about Yemen. I have spent most of my life here. I consider myself a Saudi even though the law does not consider me Saudi,” he said.
Al-Wadie’s children were born in the Kingdom and they are seen as Yemeni. He is treated as a foreigner in a country where he was born and to which he is loyal.
Um Ahmad, married to a Sudanese husband, said, “In America, if a child is born on American soil, he is automatically a citizen. I gave birth to seven children, all have a citizenship from Sudan but not Saudi Arabia.”
