Ahmad Hashim Al-Sharq DO you remember Farman Khan? He was the Pakistani shopkeeper who died saving 14 souls during the 2009 flood catastrophe that hit Jeddah. He was the brave man who was honored by government and charitable organizations two years after his death. He was given a medal while his family received sponsorship to perform Haj. The Jeddah Mayoralty named a street after him. A charitable organization gave his family SR3,700. His family is still in Pakistan. His father is an old man while his five sisters and four brothers live in a small house that has five rooms. Farman was not a Saudi and nor was Muhammad Al-Fateh Makki, the Sudanese cabdriver who saved a Saudi man who he found suffering from a serious medical condition. He took the man to hospital, called his family and gave them all the man's ID cards and the SR9,500 that he found with the man. Another Sudanese man in Abu Areish, Jazan, did the same thing and risked his life to save four children from death. The children fell into a sewage tank that was left open. Hafiz Taher, a Pakistani, performed a heroic act when he saved a Saudi child who fell into a hole in Rafha while others were standing capturing the image on their cell phones. Another expatriate saved a Saudi man who was swept away by floods in Mastoura City. When a drunk Saudi man attacked a Saudi nurse and harassed her, an expatriate stepped in and saved her. These are but few examples of chivalrous acts by expatriates, whose images are being distorted by some electronic websites and newspapers. At one time, the media called a group of expatriates a dangerous gang that sells alcohol or counterfeit money. Sometimes, expatriates are regarded as sexual harassers who molest children in grocery stores or women in malls and threaten our security and culture. Of course, not all expatriates are angels like us. Before we demonize them, we should ask ourselves why some of them engage in illegal activities. Have we thought about it? Why do they come to our country and why do illegal workers risk their lives and enter the Kingdom? Have we not realized that it is because of us? Those expatriates come to the Kingdom because we sell them visas for thousands of riyals. The people who allowed them to cross borders illegally were security officers and people who bought alcohol from them were citizens. Are we not the ones who recruited them? What was the Ministry of Labor doing when it issued millions of visas to important individuals so that they could sell them? In 2012, the ministry issued 2 million visas. Why did the ministry not reduce the number of visas? What were border security guards doing when the intruders entered the Kingdom and stayed in mountains? Expatriates are not the real culprits. They came to us for work and to improve their living conditions. If there is a problem, the ministries are responsible for it because they are in charge of planning, labor, and security. As citizens, we should admit that we failed to make 8 million expatriates convey positive messages about our country. We made them feel inferior. Our ministries do not have any plans except to avoid labor problems and deport illegal workers who return to the Kingdom shortly after being deported. We should admit that those expatriates deserve good treatment and their rights should be protected even if they violate residency laws. They have the right to have social insurance and bring over their families here to join them, and be provided with proper accommodation while their children have the right to education. We need to enforce labor and immigration laws and approve a law for expatriates and illegal workers that is in line with international laws. We should abolish the sponsorship system and enforce human rights laws. Each ministry should conduct its work without violating the humanitarian rights of any expatriate or illegal worker.
