Arab expatriates, who were born in Saudi Arabia, said they couldn’t return to their home country, due to the political turmoil back home. At the same time, they face many obstacles in finding a job and continue living in the Kingdom.
The Nitaqat program for Saudization that the Ministry of Labor has launched reduces the percentage of jobs available to expatriates in the private sector.
“The Nitaqat program does not take into consideration a person's birth in this country. Expatriates who were born in the Kingdom are considered no different from foreign workers who recently came Saudi Arabia,” said Faroq Al-Khateeb, economic analyst.
Many Arab residents who were born in the Kingdom have inherited the culture of the Saudi society and have been educated in Saudi schools. There are more than 9 million expatriates in Saudi Arabia. Of these, over two million have been born in the country and have spent all their lives here, according to Central Department of Statics and Information. A lot of Yemeni and Syrian nationals are third-generation residents to the Kingdom.
Despite not being given Saudi nationality, these Saudi-born foreigners strongly feel that they belong to this Kingdom. “It is a complicated situation. My son knows very well that both his father and mother were born in the Kingdom. He has no connection whatsoever with his original country and does not know anything about it. Only that his grandfather lived there for some time before coming to the Kingdom,” said Salah Shams Al-Deen, a Syrian expat father of a son and a daughter.
“I was planning to let my children live in Syria. I have changed my plans due to the political crisis that destroyed our home. However, I would not let them continue living here. I prefer to help them keeping the Syrian culture,” Salah added.
Mustafa Sadoon, a Syrian who was born in the Kingdom, said he has forgotten that he is from Syria. “My father came to this country more than 50 years ago. I am worried about my future and the future of my children who see themselves as Saudis and are no different from their Saudi counterparts in school. Our sense of belonging to the Kingdom has been reflected in our dress and customs. We are citizens in every sense of the word except that we do not have citizenship,” he said.
Sadoon said his eldest son, who is 15 years old, has never been to Syria. His life is attached to the system of Iqama that has to be renewed every two years. “My son is not concerned about the difficulties we face every time we want to renew our Iqama or find a proper job in the private sector. He does not know any other home apart from the Kingdom. If he goes back to Syria he will feel like a complete alien. He will be different in terms of his dialect, customs to the way he dresses. The Syrians will think he is a Saudi while the Saudis consider him a foreigner,” he said.
Abdullah Al-Sanaani, a Yemeni resident who was born and raised in Jeddah said, “It is hard to return Yemen under these circumstances. I prefer to continue living in the Kingdom instead of going back to Yemen. My home suffers from bad economic, political and security situations. Besides, all my relatives are living in Jeddah and Riyadh. We are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The new laws of the Nitaqat program do not serve us as expatriates.
At the same time, we cannot think to return to our homes and other options are limited.”
