Longtime residents have likened the extension of the grace period for illegal expatriate workers to leave or correct their status to the generosity of the Saudi government in the 1990s when Iraq invaded Kuwait.

The events that unfolded after Aug. 2, 1990, eventually led to the Gulf War.

Friday coincided with the 23rd anniversary of the Iraqi invasion and in a special report, Arab News recalls the impact of the war on residents and the Saudi government’s benevolence toward its neighboring Gulf country.

“While the Kuwaiti ruling family had been invited to seek refuge in the Kingdom, there was no announcement issued to expatriates in Kuwait to evacuate as well,” recalls one resident of the Saudi capital.

“But when they crossed the border, the Kingdom welcomed them and provided them with housing accommodation. The Indian Embassy, for example, housed its nationals at various schools, like the one in Diriyah,” he said.

Several residents remembered the widespread fear triggered by then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s threats to use chemical weapons. The Kingdom eventually provided free gas masks.

“But while the threat did not materialize, Iraq fired Scud missiles and some hit the Kingdom’s capital. One dug a wide but shallow hole in a commercial area off King Fahd Road,” the resident added.

As a result, many left their residences for safety. Others hid in places they deemed safe.

“We hid in various places. We kept moving from one place to another to avoid the Iraqi Scud missiles,” said Cenon C. Sagadal Jr., a marketing representative working at a Philippine bank. He was working with a consulting company at the time.

He said the invasion reunited him with his wife who was then working as a nurse in Kuwait. She was among the evacuees who fled to the Kingdom. She has retired since, after working in a military hospital for more than 20 years.

Abu Omran, a Jordanian who works for a publishing company, said: “My family and I joined compatriots in a shelter with food provisions for safety measures.” From time to time they returned to their respective flats when there was a lull in the firing of Scud missiles from the Iraqi troops.

However, most of the capital’s residents continued with their daily routine of going to work in the morning and returning home after office hours, leaving their safety to fate.

Vinod Menon, a senior editor at Riyadh Daily at the time, added that when the war began on Jan. 17, 1991 with the launching of Operation Desert Storm, there was a sense of panic among the city residents. It would be the longest airstrike in the history of aerial warfare.

“Many wanted to send their families to their respective countries but could not do so because the Kingdom’s airports were already closed. I had just managed to send my family prior to the closure of the airport,” he said.

Menon was accredited by the Saudi Ministry of Information as war correspondent by virtue of his work as a journalist.

“During the war, the Riyadh Daily editor in chief called me at about 3 a.m. and asked me to go to Kuwait on a Saudi military plane,” he said. He had access to military officials and attended evening press briefings at a local hotel just across the Saudi defense department along the Airport Road.

He added that the Kuwaiti oilfields had been destroyed by the Iraqi troops resulting in the city being enveloped in black smoke. “It looked like night even though it was daytime,” he added.

The war ended on Feb. 28, 1991, when Iraq, whose capability had been seriously damaged, agreed to a cease-fire.

Long-serving expatriates remember the warmth and care displayed by the Saudi government toward expatriates.