“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” is what was carved on the Statue of Liberty, which welcomed hoards of immigrants arriving at New York's Ellis Island at the turn of the 20th century, forming the foundation of America's rise to industrial, intellectual, economic and technological dominance in the world arena. America attracted the greatest minds of the world to drive its development and in exchange promised a better life and a refuge from the harsh realities from which the immigrants came. Was this not the intent of King Abdulaziz when he founded Saudi Arabia in 1933, where stories were told of handing out citizenship to those within the nation's newly founded borders, to tribes and immigrants alike, in addition to the many who joined later to help build the country? Many members of the cabinet of King Abdulaziz and later King Saud were not even of tribal descent, but were men of integrity and caliber. These men even married women from other nations, and bore children who were half foreign, and made friends from other nations whom they welcomed to their country with open arms, to come to find a better life in the new Saudi Arabia. Many members of Hijazi business families were first generation Saudis who had a strong affiliation to their home countries, but were given citizenship nonetheless because they were valued and needed. The same idea and vision applied in those days, as applies in the United States and other developed nations to this day: Get the best, learn from them, and let them help us build a viable, progressive nation. However, it is now years later, and those who were not lucky enough to be born in 1933 or earlier, are treated like outsiders. Families who migrated here long ago, with their children born here, and who are in some respects more Saudi than some Saudis themselves, are denied citizenship or even a form of permanent residency and instead are being treated like disposable assets and are forced to leave the country at the drop of a hat when there is no longer any need for them. Many of these “disposable assets” went abroad to get degrees, BAs, MAs, even PhDs, from prestigious universities and returned to Saudi Arabia wanting to make a life for themselves in the country they call home, as their parents had done before them. But instead of a home, they found a hotel where they were asked to check out at short notice. I speak about what I see, and what I see is that many of my friends and the people I meet who can speak Arabic in my dialect better than I can have been asked to return to their “countries of origin”, countries they no longer know and cannot relate to. I'm all for Saudization, but what does it mean to be Saudi? Do you have to be from a certain tribe, or do you have to have immigrated here at a certain time, or do you even have to have provided a service to someone powerful or made them a lot of money in order to be granted citizenship. If all of these non-related trivial criteria make you Saudi, then why do we have no consideration for those who have been born here and have lived here all their lives? Can we not embrace them and have them embrace us rather than have them detest us and leave with a bitter taste in their mouths? Most of those whom I know who found themselves stranded in this manner when they returned with hopes of contributing to a society they call their own, went on to apply their knowledge and skills in another country that fully understands the value of attracting the best of all nations, and as a result is excelling in all its fields both socially and economically. What has happened to us!? When did we lose our humanity and sense of justice? When did we, along the road to progress, become blind to the compassion that we once prided ourselves on? I'm pretty sure if our founding fathers were alive today, they would not be happy with the manner in which we are treating our guests, or even our countrymen and women. I am not calling for citizenship to be given to all foreign workers, but I am saying that there has to be (a) citizenship given to those third generation Saudis whose grandparents were born or moved here during the golden era of Saudi Arabia, but were not lucky enough to acquire citizenship and have nowhere else to return to; (b) a permanent residency given to those second generation residents whose parents moved here and worked here a certain number of years and who themselves were born here and lived here all their lives and who are more loyal to this country than to anywhere else. They should at least be treated differently than new immigrants, and even granted citizenship if they fulfill certain requirements, like having exceptional academic qualifications, speaking Arab, and having a good clean reputation. And lastly (c) children of foreign fathers and Saudi mothers should be given citizenship just as was recently done in the UAE. Some argue that these Saudi women should not have married foreigners to begin with, but the point is that they were allowed to and most of their offspring who come here wanting to be by their mother's side find it difficult to do so and are made to live in another country where they can have a more stable life. Is this right? Let's embrace them instead of chasing them away; let's make use of their drive, intellect and passion, which can be a huge asset to us. Let's create a strong Saudi nation under a banner of unity and compassion paying homage to the vision of its founders.
