Although overstayers can get emergency care in government hospitals, the majority avoid them fearing deportation after treatment. Instead, they rely on herbal cures at home.
Those who have the financial ability visit private hospitals. However, these hospitals are often instructed by their management to only treat people on production of valid ID documents.
“I couldn’t afford the hospital bills and had to carry my child from one hospital to another asking for help,” said the overstayer mother of a one-year-old baby who recently suffered third degree burns.
The woman was refused treatment at three hospitals before she was accepted at a fourth.
“I finally found a group of people who were willing to help me pay the costs and take this burden off my shoulder,” she said. “My baby is now getting proper treatment and I’m thankful to this group of people for helping me because if they didn’t, my child would have died by now.”
Mariam, a 60-year-old Somali woman, said private hospitals only treat people who can afford to pay their medical bills.
“It’s impossible for a private hospital to take care of a patient if they can’t afford to pay for the treatment,” she said. “They always ask you to pay before treatment to ensure you can afford the medical treatment,” she added.
“As overstayers without proper residency documents, we fear going to public hospitals or sending our children there even though the treatment is free,” said Omar, a Somali overstayer who lives in downtown Jeddah. “We know for sure that these hospitals will treat us and then call the authorities to deport us out of the country. If we were to return to Somalia then we would surely die, either of hunger or being murdered in that war-torn country.”
Overstayers are also often forced to give birth in their own homes, said Fatima, a 20-year-old Somali woman. “I gave birth to four children at home because hospitals demanded SR4,000 to treat me,” she said. “My children don’t have birth certificates or any other documents that prove they even exist,” she added.
“Women like me tend to ask neighbors or friends to help give birth. We don’t pay them, we just give them food or house supplies as a thank you,” said Fatima.
An official at the government-run King Fahd Hospital said overstayers are provided with free medical treatment. “We cannot reject anyone who asks us for help whether in the emergency room or for surgery,” said Khalid Al-Sheikh, the hospital’s PR manager. “As soon as we receive such a patient we call the authorities to come and pick them up after treatment and deal with them later,” he added.
Bugshan Hospital in Jeddah does not accept overstayers at all. “We cannot treat anyone who doesn’t have legal papers or an iqama because when we do we get questioned by the authorities,” said the hospital’s public relations officer.
