Posted on 11/30/2013 6:35:45 AM PST by DeaconBenjamin
Under the watchful eyes of Saudi policemen, little knots of Ethiopian men sit chatting on doorsteps and sprawl on threadbare grass at one of Riyadh's busiest junctions. These are tense, wary times in Manfouha, a few minutes' drive from the capital's glittering towers and swanky shopping malls.
Manfouha is the bleak frontline in Saudi Arabia's campaign to get rid of its illegal foreign workers, control the legal ones and help get more of its own citizens into work. This month two or three Ethiopians were killed here after a raid erupted into full-scale rioting.
Keeping their distance from the officers parked every few hundred metres, the Ethiopians look shifty and sound nervous. "Of course I have an iqama [residence permit]," insisted Ali, a gaunt twentysomething man in cheap leather jacket and jeans. "I wouldn't be standing here if I hadn't."
But he didn't have the document on him. And his story, in broken Arabic, kept changing.
Until recently, of the kingdom's 30 million residents, more than nine million were non-Saudis. Since the labour crackdown started in March, one million Bangladeshis, Indians, Filipinos, Nepalis, Pakistanis and Yemenis have left. And the campaign has moved into higher gear after the final deadline expired on 4 November, with dozens of repatriation flights now taking place every day. By next year, two million migrants will have gone.
No one is being singled out, the authorities say. But the Ethiopians are widely portrayed as criminals who are said to be mixed up with alcohol and prostitution.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Can some one pass this over to the Obama Administration?
An odd campaign, given that most Saudis absolutely detest working (it's beneath them), and that almost all productive labor in SA is foreign.
The Saudis must be racists. These foreign workers are just doing the jobs that Saudis won’t do. They need Amnesty. Send John Kerry over to explain it to them.
The Saudiazation was begun around 1988 or so. It has continued since with varying degrees of success.
The problem is excess. The current effort is to cull the excess with targeted effort.
With regard to Saudi’s working, you are correct. As time passes though and there is change, that will alter the status quo. I have met young Saudi engineers and business grads quite anxious to not only work but succeed in the process.
The CEO of the largest and richest Saudi trading company is the grand daughter, that is grandddaughter, of the founder. There is a very high placed ARAMCO female Saudi VP that works in Houston
There is change in process
What is wrong with the Saudis that they can't see the obvious solution to their problem?
Why? So the malignant POS will bring them here?
Saudis used foreign labor because it made them de facto slave masters, women with maids and nannies, men with servants and workers.
They have had large families as the wealthy tended to do. Now they have growing energy demands domestically AND use oil to desalinize water. They can no longer afford to have most of their men be idle masters, and instead need these guys to go to work.
Deporting foreigners helps leave more water and food for the remaining people, but getting their children to work will be a greater challenge.
Saudi Arabia even has a border fence along its entire border with Yemen. Raytheon helped build the sensors along it to catch potential terrorists sneaking in.
You mean...it CAN be done??
Thanks DeaconBenjamin.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3095787/posts?page=5#5
additional:
Saudi Arabia’s foreign labour crackdown drives out 2m migrants
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3096882/posts
What about their right to a path to citizenship?
Doesn’t Saudi Arabia have the Progressive desire for national suicide? How reactionary.
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