“This is my 16th year of continuous work in Saudi Arabia, and I am not revealing a secret when I say I do not have heartfelt appreciation and a sense of belonging to a country where I have spent most of my life. To be precise, elements of loyalty, affiliation, pride of membership and gratefulness have no place inside me toward this country, simply because although I have lived long in the heartland of the Arab world, I have never felt like more than a hired employee who merely waits to get his salary at the end of each month.” This is the shocking and harsh confession that an Arab expatriate made upon agreeing to open his heart and express his genuine feelings and attitude toward our country. Although we host and grant him a long career, the living conditions make him unwilling to give the most of his expertise to serve and help in building this country. Over the course of his stay here, he has, therefore, just been doing his job well enough so that his employer will not fire him and send him back home. As such, he shows no signs of enthusiasm to pass his expertise and knowledge on to his Saudi peers, little willingness to train and hone their skills, and, most of all, little eagerness to improve the establishment or institution for which he works. Among other things, he maintained that his experience was not confined solely to the issue of the ill treatment of foreign workers by some Saudi employers and the deferring of their monthly salaries.
Instead, all of the adverse symptoms that he mentioned are linked to the lack of a warm and welcoming environment in the Kingdom, and I cannot emphasize enough that here is where the critical issue lies.
The Arab expatriate further added that he was not alone and that the same was true for about eight million foreign residents (most of them laborers from South Asia), constituting 27 percent of the Saudi population. Expatriates are here as shareholders in the ever-evolving developmental stages through which the country is continuously passing. I am surprised that although Saudi Arabia is indeed the largest of all nations in the region, hosting many sons and daughters of brotherly and friendly countries who have coexisted with their Saudi counterparts for decades, Saudi citizens do little to furnish a fertile ground for building relationships between themselves and expatriate communities, much less pave the way for easier access to the Saudi social sphere. This is not an individual case; rather, it reveals the unheard voices of millions of expatriates currently residing in Saudi Arabia. The causes of such animosity are myriad, and the negative consequences, both on the individual level and for the country as a whole, are numerous. Saudi citizens and the country alike share the blame for creating the intolerable living conditions that lead expatriates to have such feelings. I would suggest, however, that citizens, not the country and its institutions, have the greater responsibility because the country's institutions are merely responsible for regulating the relationships between employers and employees, not for leading the course of such relationships in a particular direction. This is not to suggest that the country is totally blameless. Its responsibility, although limited, lies in setting regulations and rules, implementing prevention measures, and providing a reasonable amount of services and necessary protection as well. Further aspects are the fact that the country is not doing enough about other pressing matters including weak mechanisms for complaints, the slow pace of litigation, the sometimes non-mandatory decisions in favor of residents, failure to adopt a minimum wage, and the absence of housing inspections by government authorities. Additionally, there is a shortage of qualified inspectors to assess the safety of the work environment in factories and installations. This is also true with respect to the lack of precautionary programs intended to educate workers about their rights and the configuration of work in Saudi Arabia so that they will not get into legal difficulties because they are unaware of local work regulations. Expatriate workers also do not enjoy pension or social security rights. In addition to the aforementioned legal and regulatory issues, there are also unwise and counterproductive decisions. Among the eight million foreign residents, over two million are estimated to be Saudi-born expatriates who have spent all their lives here. These residents, along with those who have been here for more than 10 years, are not made to feel as though this country is theirs or that they are a part of it. It is unfortunate that a large number of foreign residents are denied the right to invest and engage in various business activities in the Kingdom. Moreover, Saudi state universities allocate a limited number of seats for expatriates. Another negative issue is that regulations severely limit the ability of residents to bring their families and loved ones to Saudi Arabia. It seems, however, that a substantial number of Saudi citizens exacerbate the dismal feelings that expatriates hold toward Saudi Arabia. Many citizens hold or express hostile attitudes about foreign residents with reference to several factors. Some of them do not welcome the presence of non-citizens, treat them badly, and regard them as objects to be used for their own purposes. Some Saudi citizens tend to maintain that foreign residents do not deserve the advantages offered by the Kingdom. Other local people have gone as far as to suggest that foreign residents have greatly contributed to the spread of moral drift in Saudi society and loudly state that they are unwanted intruders. Furthermore, some Saudis also stress that foreign residents are taking advantage of the country's economy, resources, and prospects and that they are the ones behind many of the current social problems that deeply affect our country. Some Saudi citizens who feel this way about expatriates have translated their views into inhumane and unethical conduct. Some ask expatriates to perform unreasonable tasks, and when they refuse, their contracts are terminated. Some do not give expatriates their financial dues or delay them for long periods of time, or pay low wages irregularly, and many do not provide adequate housing for their workers. There are also those who resort to forcing expatriates to work long hours with unpaid overtime, do not provide adequate healthcare and otherwise alienate those who work for them. It is clear that, we need to collectively work hand in hand to create a better working environment and living conditions for foreign guest employees. It is time to reconsider our view of and dealings with anyone who lives in our country and not view them as merely employees, but rather as true partners in loyalty and love for this generous country. Indeed, expatriate workers are the driving force behind the building and development of our country on all levels. This is an urgent call to do whatever it takes so that we can say to the world that we, in fact, have succeeded in winning the hearts and minds of foreign workers residing in the Kingdom who are the true builders of and contributors to modern Saudi Arabia. — The writer is a Saudi academic who can be reached at [email protected]
