Stealing iqamas with the aim of holding their owners to ransom has become a trade for a number of Africans living in Jeddah.
They are very discreet and their prices vary according to the nationality of the iqama holder.
Foreigners who lost their iqamas and had to pay for them told Arab News that these organized rings usually live in under-developed districts in south Jeddah.
A police official admitted the presence of such gangs, but denied that they were concentrated in one place.
Many foreigners who have had their iqamas stolen would immediately go to these districts in south Jeddah to look for them.
They do inform the police about their loss, but they will not hesitate to proceed to these districts once they receive a call. In these cases, they do not bother to notify the police because they do not want trouble. They only want to have their official papers back as soon as possible.
Ahmad Abdul Raheem, a Sudanese expatriate who is working for a private company in Jeddah, said he immediately went to the south of the city the moment he discovered that his iqama was lost.
“I did not know anyone there and had no idea about how I would get my iqama back, but when an African man saw me wandering aimlessly, he directed me to a certain house,” he said.
Abdul Raheem said he went to the house, knocked on the door and was told by the man who opened the door to leave his mobile phone number and wait for a call in two days.
“The call came and the unknown person on the other end of the line asked me to come and pay SR2,500 in exchange for my iqama,” he said.
Abdul Raheem said he was advised by friends to pay the amount and not bother to inform the police since the matter ended peacefully. He admitted that his conduct was not proper or ethical and he should have informed the officers.
“I should have informed the police so they could arrest the gang members. We should not yield to the exploitation of the thieves,” he said.
It is not always the case that the iqama is simply returned after a ransom is paid. Some iqamas are forged and sold to other people or used for other purposes.
This is what happened to Eritrean expatriate Muhammad Idris. He said after his iqama was stolen, two African men contacted him and asked him to pay SR1,500 in order to get it back.
“I did this, but after a short time I discovered that my iqama was forged for an HIV positive African patient,” he said. Idris said he did not bother to inform the police because he did not care if the thieves were caught or not. “The important thing is that I got my iqama back and my presence in the country is legal again,” he said.
Mahoud Sabri, a Yemeni, is sure that Jeddah police know exactly where these thieves were operating. “The thieves do not only run their business from their homes, they also have offices where they receive people who have lost their iqamas,” he said.
Sabri said when he lost his wallet containing his iqama and driving license, he immediately reported the case to the police, but was surprised when the police told him to go to the downtown area of Bab Sharif to look for his lost things there. “I took the advice of the police and I did find my iqama where I was told it would be found,” he said.
Jeddah police spokesman Col. Misfar Al-Juaid told Arab News that the cooperation of expatriates would help lead to the arrests of these gangs. “There are no permanent locations for these gangs, but if the foreigners cooperate with us we will surely catch them,” he said.
Al-Juaid said the police carry out regular patrols looking for iqama thieves, who usually hail from African countries. “The cooperation of expatriates is a crucial factor in tackling these criminal activities,” he said.
