Abdulrahman Al-Habeeb Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — A number of professors and writers have called upon concerned authorities to restructure the Saudi citizenship point system. Dr. Khalid Aba Al-Hassan at Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University and consultant at the Higher Education Ministry, said the system needs revision and its regulations should be suspended for the time being until a new revised version comes into force. Al-Hassan believes that it is important to grant citizenship to people who have expertise in important fields as this will benefit the country. Dr. Mansour Al-Juaid, professor of media and communications school at King Abdulaziz University, said anyone who reads the conditions set out in the Saudi citizenship system will agree that they are ambiguous and often contradictory. It is high time the system was revised completely, he added. Naturalization is an issue that poses some problems to many countries around the world. The problem lies in the fact that there are three categories of candidates. First, people who were born and raised in the Kingdom. Those do not pose any security or other threat to the country because they have passports of their country of origin to which they could return anytime they want. They have official documents which prove their identity. Al-Juaid believes that this category of people should not be granted citizenship unless they have proved their allegiance to the country. If all non-Saudis were given citizenship because they were born here, they would pose a burden on the government and the unemployment rate would shoot up, let alone schools, universities and colleges which will be packed. The second category deals with people without official identity documents. This can pose a security and social threat. They should be integrated into society and granted 10-year residency permits after which their criminal records should be checked. If they have proved that they have been law-abiding residents then they should be granted permanent residency permit or Saudi citizenship. The third category includes those who were born to Saudi mothers and non-Saudi fathers. In the opinion of Al-Juaid, they should be granted Saudi citizenship immediately. Dr. Khalil Al-Thaqafi, professor of King Abdulaziz University, said some sections of the Saudi citizenship point system should be restructured. For example, a Saudi mother who is married to a non-Saudi father and gives birth to a child abroad does not get the same points as a Saudi mother's child who is born here. He believes that the children of Saudi mothers should be given Saudi citizenship regardless of where they were born. Their fathers should be granted Saudi citizenship after 15 years if they do not hold higher degrees in important specializations and five years if they do. Dr. Salih Al-Duwaish says advanced countries attract the brains from all over the world and grant them citizenship. Each country has specific criteria for citizenship and these criteria depend on the public interest. Abdullah Al-Nuwaisir, a writer, said citizenship is a domestic policy and each country has its own regulations and laws. Each country deals with this issue based on political, security, social, cultural, religious and development needs. He believes that the citizenship system here should take the social, development and security factors into consideration. Only those who have met the criteria and have spent a long time in the Kingdom should be granted Saudi citizenship. The focus should be on those who hold higher degrees and who can benefit the country. Moreover, the humanitarian condition of some families who have spent tens of years here and who do not have official identify documents should be considered and such families should be granted Saudi citizenship. Al-Nuwaisir said some non-Saudi men exploit Saudi women through marriage. They just get married to Saudi women in order to benefit from privileges given to them as husbands of Saudi women. Khalid Al-Khalifah, a columnist, said the citizenship issue needs more flexibility to allow non-Saudi people who have lived all their life here and know of no other country to call home to enjoy prosperous living. The issue should be dealt with and solved immediately and without any delay to avoid problems in the future.
