Tag Archives: Riyadh

Expats in Saudi Arabia Alarmed as Raids Target Illegals

Posted on April 4 2013 by MEE Administrator

Saudi_police_hunt_down_undocumented_EthiopiansCross-Posted from Arab News

Labor authorities, supported by police, have stepped up a major campaign to drive out illegal workers as well as those involved in cover-up businesses in different parts of the Kingdom. The move has triggered shock waves among expatriates, especially those who are not working for their sponsors.

Police have reportedly arrested a large number of expatriates for violating iqama and labor regulations during the past week, sources told Arab News.

Many shops and firms have been closed down in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam as they either did not have enough workers under their sponsorship or fear punitive action.

A ministry spokesman, however, described the raids as a routine measure.

Labor Minister Adel Fakeih said on Tuesday the government would not tolerate any violation of the Kingdom’s regulations and that tough action would be taken against violators.

“The Cabinet has identified the duties of the Interior and Labor ministries to track down illegal workers and businesses,” the minister said, adding that a royal decree has been issued to beef up labor inspections with police.

“We’ll intensify inspections in coordination with the Interior Ministry,” Fakeih said.

“The move is aimed at driving out illegal aliens and violators of iqama and labor laws,” he added.

The Labor Ministry has classified nearly 250,000 small and medium enterprises in the Red category of the Nitaqat system yesterday when the deadline given to them to employ at least one Saudi in their firms expired. Continue reading →

My incredible trip to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and drive back through the desert

Posted on July 10 2012 by Sam Shropshire

My visit with friends in Riyadh

I just got back from a visit to the capital of Saudi Arabia–Riyadh (Pronounced Ree-yaad; Arabic: الرياض‎). The name in English means “the gardens.” A buinessman there got me a ticket to fly to Riyadh. I stayed with Hossam Malallah and his wonderful family for a week. We had numerous business appointments, and then we drove back to Jeddah through the desert via Al Taif and Mecca.

I thank my friend Hossam and his family for their warm hospitality and for arranging several very important appointments with business people including a Saudi Sheikh Ry-an Al-Monsoul. For the occasion, I was outfitted with a brand new custom-tailored thobe and schmag!

The History of Riyadh is centuries old and interesting

Riyadh is the largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to nearly 6 million people. The greater Riyadh area is nearly 7 million people. Riyadh is home to the world’s largest female university, the Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University.

During the pre-Islamic era, the settlement at the current city site was called Hajr (Arabic: حجر‎), and was reportedly founded by the tribe of Banu Hanifa. Hajr served as the capital of the province of Al Yamamah, whose governors were responsible for most of central and eastern Arabia during the Umayyad and Abbasid eras. Al-Yamamah broke away from the Abbasid Empire in 866 and the area fell under the rule of the Ukhaydhirites, who moved the capital from Hajr to nearby Al Kharj. The city then went into a long period of decline. In the 14th century North African traveller Ibn Battuta wrote of his visit to Hajr, describing it as “the main city of Al-Yamamah, and its name is Hajr”. Ibn Battuta goes on to describe it as a city of canals and trees with most of its inhabitants belonging to Bani Hanifa, and reports that he continued on with their leader to Mecca to perform the Hajj. (No canals were visible during my visit! I’m trying to find out what happened to them. It hasn’t rained in Saudi Arabia during the past 3 years.)

Later, we are told, the area of Hajr broke up into several separate settlements and estates. The most notable of these were Migrin (or Muqrin) and Mi’kal, though the name Hajr continued to appear in local folk poetry. Continue reading →

Book Review: Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia

Posted on May 11 2012 by Andrew Schill

Review of Robert Lacey’s Inside the Kingdom

Robert Lacey’s Inside the Kingdom unveils the incomprehensible paradoxes and mysteries surrounding the world’s greatest oil producer and home to Islam’s Two Holy Mosques. For three years, in the early 80’s, Lacey lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he wrote the illuminating prequel, “The Kingdom: Arabia and the House of Saud.” Over twenty years later, he would return and live for another three years in the Kingdom to report on the changes of the past two decades. While Saudi Arabia has on the one hand evolved into a modern technological marvel, the old guard religious fanatics have revolted against modernity and have attempted to turn the clock back to the days of the Prophet Muhammad. From touching on the first Wahhabi/Saud encounter over three-hundred years ago, to the enduring royal-Wahhabi alliance of the twentieth century with its subsequent unraveling in the twenty-first century – Lacey describes Saudi Arabia as a society at war with itself. Continue reading →