Expatriates born in Saudi Arabia

Abdulateef Al-Mulhim

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point-of-view

Good morning dear readers. Please meet Khalid. He is a Pakistani. He and his sister are approaching their 60s. Yes, you heard me right I said 60s. So, what is so unusual to meet a Pakistani and his sister? Well nothing strange except that both were born in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia but their passports say that they are born in Lahore, Pakistan. What is ironic is that if his company’s work contract is over or terminated, then he and all his family will have to leave the Kingdom. Oops, did I say that Khalid is approaching his 60s and he is born and raised in Saudi Arabia?Khalid and his sister were born during the mid-fifties in Saudi Arabia when their father was working at Saudi Aramco’s planning department. Khalid and his sister were born in the same hospital in Dhahran two years apart. When they were very young they traveled with their mother to Pakistan. I am sure the grandparents wanted to see their grandkids. And at that time like many other places around the world, children at that age usually had their names added to their mother’s passport just before processing and obtaining their birth certificates.So when they were in Pakistan, and planned to travel back to the Kingdom on their own passports, most likely the passport department just put the birthplace as Lahore. And maybe it did not make a difference at that time because the mom and dad thought it would be few years and everybody would return to Pakistan for good and may not be back in Saudi Arabia except during the Haj season. But, for the information of the reader, Khalid is still in Saudi Arabia.There many others like Khalid and his sister. There are many expatriates who are born and raised or just raised in Saudi Arabia but never become Saudis. And sometimes, it is a dilemma for many. There are many in the Kingdom who lived and worked for tens of years and their friends and many of their families are in Saudi Arabia.Many expatriates from Asia would be lost in the streets of Manila, Delhi or Karachi but they know every street of Dammam or Riyadh. And the biggest shock is for their children especially the ones who are in their teens. If they have to go back to their home country, they have to start making new friends and adjust to their new environment in their home country. The bottom line is that we saw an increase in the number of visas for expatriates applying for jobs in the Kingdom and the expatriates will be here for a long time to come if not forever, so, it is important to make some changes to the rules with regards to the expatriates and their status in the Kingdom especially those who had been in the Kingdom for a long time.And just few weeks ago, a plan has been announced to rename the word (Iqama) to (Hawyat muqeem) which means (expatriate ID) and this can make difference. Don’t get me wrong, as I am pro- Saudization. I want to see Saudi young men occupying every job in the Kingdom, be it gardener, mechanic, technician or any other job. But, we all know that we in Saudi Arabia will be in great need for expatriates. And many expatriates now not only consider Saudi Arabia as their work place but many of them consider Saudi Arabia as their home. There are many ways that we Saudis and expatriates can benefit from each other. There can be more schools for both Saudis and expatriates and there can be campuses of foreign universities that can take the expatriates children and can also take some Saudis who are interested in learning in these universities. Saudis and expatriates can join hands and continue building the country and it would be beneficial if we can modify some of the rules that can benefit both the Saudis and the expatriates.Email: [email protected]