JEDDAH: Although they appreciate living in a stable economic and secure country, and having full government services provided to them, Syrians hosted in Saudi Arabia have not forgotten their homeland, beloved friends and relatives who failed to leave Syria, or those who chose to leave for Western countries.
Syrians living in Jeddah are afraid of hearing bad news of relatives who still live in Syria. However, they have no choice but to be addicted to the news to follow up on what is happening to their homeland, while free calls on smartphone applications are the best way to contact their loved ones, whenever possible.
Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2011, the Saudi government has opted not to identify them as refugees, but as guests who enjoy full support and as many services as possible. The government in Riyadh has opened the door to work and study the same as all expatriates in Saudi Arabia. Since, there are no refugee camps for Syrians in the Kingdom; these “guests” can live in any Saudi city and work in the private sector.
Despite these relatively pleasant conditions compared to what many of their country men and women are enduring in refugee camps elsewhere, many Saudi-based Syrians can’t wait to return to their homeland, but at the same time are not optimistic that the war will end anytime soon.
According to official statistics, Saudi Arabia now hosts over 2.5 million Syrians who have fled their country since the Assad regime began its brutal retaliation in 2011. Not only does the Kingdom provide work, education and health support. The authorities took a decision not to deport any Syrian residing on its territory, even after the expiry of his or her residency documents. A royal decree was recently issued to exempt Syrians for these violations because they would be arrested and tortured if they return to their country.
On the labor issue, a royal decree approved recommendations of a committee to allow Syrians who entered the Kingdom, with visitor or temporary visas, to work in the country. This would ensure that their skills could be put to good use. On the health front, a royal decree was issued two years ago ensuring that all Syrians would be able to get emergency care at the state’s expense at primary health care centers and public hospitals.
One of the Saudi government’s facilities that has been granted to Syrian expatriates is the extendable visit visa. The government allowed Syrians to invite their family members on visit visas that can be extended for unlimited periods. This move encouraged Syrian expatriates to invite their relatives who left Syria and took refuge in neighboring countries.
Sharif Ahmad, 25, a Syrian newcomer in the Kingdom, said, “I came to the Kingdom one month ago. I was living in Beirut, Lebanon after I left Homs. But my father sent a visit visa for me to come to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government allows Syrians who have visit visas to work. I found a job in a shop for Syrian food products in Jeddah.
“However, I am worried about my friends who failed to leave Syria for a neighboring country. It is necessary to have family members living Saudi Arabia to get a visit visa. But some Syrians have no one in the Kingdom so they live in bad economic situations in Syria’s neighboring countries,” Sharif told Arab News
To come Saudi Arabia, Syrians must first escape their homeland to any country. Most Syrians escape to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Then, when they get the chance they ask their relatives living in the Kingdom to send visit visas through Saudi embassies.
Most Syrian newcomers in Saudi Arabia are working in different professions such as in barbershops, Syrian and Turkish restaurants, and shops for Syrian food products. However, most them know that there is no hope to return to the homeland as the war could continue for a long time and destroy everything.
“I know that war will not give us any chance to dream of seeing our country again. But it is important to think about our futures in countries that accepted to receive us. I have spent three years in Saudi Arabia. This country looks like our home. I do not feel that I am living in a strange country. I have managed my personal affairs to stay here for long time. I have sent for my family members, my wife and daughters from Turkey to live together in Saudi Arabia,” Wasim Al-Aiyobbi, a Syrian from Aleppo, working in barbershop in Jeddah, told Arab News.
After they were divided on the political viewpoint on the Syrian crisis, all Syrian expatriates now agree that the Syrian regime has played an essential role in damaging the whole country and wasted all hopes of refugees to see their homeland again. They accused Bashar Assad of extending the war and avoiding all political solutions to resolve the crisis.
“At the beginning of Syrian crisis, I was supporting Assad. But now, I think that he has destroyed the whole country. I can see photos of Syrian children, on TV, crying for losing their parents in bombings of their homes ... I think that my homeland will not come back to what it was before. The country will be divided,” Ehab Rashad, a Syrian worker in a food company said.
A Syrian National Council member, Mohammed Akkad, living in Jeddah, said all Syrians living in Saudi Arabia thank the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for hosting them in the Kingdom. The Saudi government helped Syrian refugees to stand up again after they lost everything in their homeland.
Speaking to Arab News, Akkad said: “many Syrian refugees live in camps allocated by neighboring countries to host them. But Saudi Arabia refused to do the same. The Saudi government opened the whole country for Syrians to live in. Syrians here can work as any other expatriate. Saudi hospitals, schools and universities opened their door to offer services to Syrian residents in the Kingdom.”
