Top: The Indonesian consulate in Jeddah's Rehab District wears a deserted look on Monday as policemen cordon off the area after Sunday evening's protests and stampede. – SG photo by Saleh Fareed Bottom: A nurse at King Fahd Hospital helps an Indonesian woman sit in her bed on Monday. She was among six women admitted to the hospital after sustaining injuries during a stampede at the Indonesian consulate in Jeddah's Rehab district Sunday evening. – Okaz photo by Ahmad Al-Miqdam
Abdulrahman Al-Ali and Saleh Fareed Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – The area surrounding the Indonesian consulate in Jeddah's Rehab District wore a deserted look on Monday, a day after 16 Indonesians were injured in a stampede resulting from protests by workers. The area was cordoned off and the consulate was closed. A Facebook account addressing Indonesian nationals said the consulate will be open for applications and submissions on June 11, 12 and 13. On Saturday, it will be open only for passport pick-ups. Brig. Gen. Wasslallah Al-Harbi, Director of the Traffic Department in Jeddah, said the roads leading to the consulate were closed to traffic so as to facilitate the movement of police and Civil Defense vehicles. Consulate and Foreign Ministry officials were meeting to discuss ways to improve the flow of work at the mission. In order to streamline the services, the consulate has been requested by Saudi authorities to process 5,000 paperwork daily and 25,000 weekly to meet the the amnesty deadline, a Indonesian consulate official told Saudi Gazette. Indonesian consulate has completed around 40,000 paperwork while 115,000 still remain unfinished, he said. Recounting Sunday evening's incident, an eyewitness told Saudi Gazette that protests and violence followed an argument between some Indonesian men and consulate personnel regarding the legitimacy of the new passports issued by the mission. Having received their new passports, these Indonesian men like countless others had gone to the Passport Department to complete other required procedures. To their dismay, there they were told that their new passports were not legitimate and were consequently turned away. Returning to the consulate, the Indonesian nationals confronted the consulate personnel standing outside the building. “After long hours of waiting in the heat just to first submit papers and then waiting anxiously for weeks for the passport to be issued, we find out at the end that it is not real!” said one of the men.
One of the men threw the passport in the nearby garbage bin. When another man attempted to throw his new passport in the garbage, a consulate staffer tried to stop him, shouting: “We are working all the time to get the paperwork completed and you throw our work away?!” At some point as the arguments grew and tempers flared, a lit matchstick was thrown into the garbage where others had started throwing their papers as well. Many others in the crowd started lighting plastic bottles and other items from the lit garbage and throwing it over the consulate wall. “This does not help us at all,” said a middle-aged Indonesian woman named Yusra. “Yes we are tired, very tired and angry at our consulate,” she continued. “It is not just from the long hours of waiting under the hot sun but it is also from the way our own consulate people treat us, their own people, their brothers and sisters.” “The consulate staff treat us roughly,” said another woman sitting beside her. Her sponsor calls her Kareema. She said: “As if our situations aren't bad enough, they yell at us, threaten to tear our applications and forms if we don't follow their instructions. They also physically push us around”. “Yesterday I had been in line since 2 a.m. with my four-year old son,” said another Indonesian woman who refused to share even her sponsor's nickname for fear of being identified and later persecuted despite reassurances from the other Indonesian women. “When the trouble started at first I was happy that the consulate personnel were being shouted at because of the bad way they've been treating us, especially the women. But later as the fire broke out, I felt afraid, very afraid.” Some 16 people were injured in the stampede. An old Indonesian woman was reported killed. However, an Indonesian official denied any deaths. Six of the injured were taken to King Fahd Hospital. Jeddah Health Affairs mobilized all its resources and upgraded the readiness of King Fahd General Hospital as well as King Abdul Aziz and Al-Thagher hospitals. Jeddah Police spokesman First Lt. Nawaf Al-Bouq said investigations are under way to determine the cause of the fire. He said whoever resorts to rioting will be considered to have violated the law.
