JEDDAH, 20 September 2006 — Due to the intimidation and harassment Saudi students have been recently experiencing in the United States, especially after what happened to Homaidan Al-Turki and his family, Saudis are thinking twice before sending their children to study in America.
“Such discrimination and humiliation would discourage parents from even thinking about sending their children to study in the US,” said Muhammad Al-Enezi, 39.
On Aug. 31, a Colorado court sentenced Al-Turki to 27 years in prison for sexually assaulting his maid, forcibly imprisoning her and not paying her wages — charges he vehemently denies.
Al-Enezi, a teacher at one of the largest high schools in Jeddah, said that many of his students who had been contemplating of studying in the US now showed no interest in heading there.
“Most of them refuse to continue their college education in the US and they havethe support of their parents. It’s obvious that they’ve decided so after hearing about the mistreatment and intimidation suffered by other Saudi students in the US,” he said.
Jamal Al-Najjar, a government employee and father of two, urged the Saudi government to put pressure on the US administration to change its policy toward Saudi students.
Al-Najjar hopes that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah will interfere and bring a solution to the issue relating to Al-Homaidan, who was sentenced in the US under “false accusations.”
“I am not going to sacrifice my sons by sending them to the US as long as they keep mistreating our children and abusing them for no reasons. My two sons will be graduating this year from high school and I will never ever think of sending them to America,” Al-Najjar said.
“I know of many parents that have changed their plans and are sending their children to other destinations such as Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The US is not the right place for our children and I hope all parents do not think about sending their children to any part of the US,” he added.
According to the latest statistics, there has been a noticed decrease of GCC students in the US, the biggest drop being in Saudi numbers.
“This is because of the new political climate after Sept. 11, 2001, and the fact that Muslims in the US are facing many difficulties for mistakes that could be dealt in a less aggressive way,” said 29-year-old Ahmed Al-Falih, who is currently studying at a university in the US Midwest.
Speaking to Arab News by telephone, he described the situation of Saudi students as unsafe. “Many students feel scared. They expect the unexpected just like Al-Turki who has been accused of rape and other things that he did not do.”
Meanwhile, a Saudi tourist returning from the United States recently expressed anger and frustration at mistreatment suffered at the hands of US authorities when he was detained for a couple of hours at the J.F. Kennedy Airport. “I thought things would have calmed down after all these years but the situation is still tense and Arabs are discriminated against and mistreated,” said Mamdouh Al-Saeed, 24.
Al-Saeed added that he would not feel comfortable going to the US for further education in the current climate.
Al-Turki, 37, said that US authorities were persecuting him for “traditional Muslim behaviors”. He blamed anti-Muslim prejudice for his conviction and the severity of the sentence. He claimed that the prosecutors persuaded the maid to accuse him after they failed to build a case against him as a terrorist.
People across Saudi Arabia have little faith in the US government and constantly accuse the authorities there of double standards by harshly punishing Al-Turki, while simultaneously letting off the perpetrators behind the Abu Ghraib fiasco in Iraq with a slap on the wrist.
