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Showing posts with label saudi arabia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saudi arabia. Show all posts

2 Sept 2011

Deportation and the Inhumane process - Stories from those who experienced it


 -He was a resident in the country for 60 years , taking refuge in a place he believed would bring him closer to the house of God. Today he spends his days behind prison in the uttmost humiliation and embarassment. He is heart broken and too depressed to express how he feels . his words - 7asbi Allah wa Ni3m Al wakiil. 7asbi Allah wa Ni3m Al wakil and so he repeats . His wife and children share a similar faith , with thoughts of famine and poverty and a return to a place they have not seen , They have lost hope in those they once called their brothers and Sisters in faith.
- She was unconscious and in need of medical help , an old woman too sick to understand what was going on around her. After being refused admission from at least 4 hospitals , simply because she is a citizen of a failed state . She is treated at home with an NG tube down her nose being her only feeding method . Her son , sheds tears of blood . you can see the anger in his eyes. He asks rather shocked: How do you people live ? Animals are treated better than this . Ina lillah Wa Ina Ilayhi Raji3oon , Ina Lillah Wa Ina Ilayhi Raji3oon !!! are all he can utter before he breaks into a sob . 
- It’s 3:am in the morning and their door is forcefully broken down , it is only a second before they are being dragged out of their bedroom in their night gowns . the 2 month old baby cries at all the noise, the mother has no chance at grabbing a head scarf or guarding her modesty. The husband in a moment of rage asks : Why are you treating as like this, are we not muslims like you ?. His reply is a beating that will leave him bruised for weeks . the next few weeks are spent in jail , followed by a forceful deportation without a chance for goodbyes or the likes of it. 
- She went out with the intention of getting groceries from the local market but she did not know it would be the last time she walked those streets again. With her two infants at her sides, she is stopped in the middle of the street and jailed. I wonder why it was her that was stopped and not the woman or man right beside her . It must’ve been because she looked african or was it because she was not flashing the latest abaya or handbag ? Was her rather modest look what gave her away ??. It’s been only 2 years since she made that dreadful journey in a fishing boat and through the arabian desert. She regrets choosing this country as her destination. But I guess it’s only a lesson learned and a mistake not to be repeated. 
- He was stabbed by a national in broad daylight.After 3 weeks in a hospital in critical condition. He recovers and gives his statement to the police and with witnesses present , he is sure to get justice. a week later and he hears his offender is released and free to run the streets. In a moment of rage he takes justice into his own hands . An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth . But he is no national , and justice is only served when seemed appropriate . He is deported with a criminal record and content in his heart. Justice he has truly served . 
They all fled a country that was burning in flames , only to be returned to it with heavy hearts and their remaining dignity burned to ashes.They hoped for a better future and now those simple dreams have been beaten down and shattered. They laughed at those who ran elsewhere , thinking their brothers would be more merciful of their circumstance but today they regret the choices they made and vow to only return to such a place when their passports puts authorities at unease.
- Is it not funny how respect is given based on a document and not because of your right to one…. 

12 Oct 2010

Saudi Arabia and the "AJANIB"

you walk into a store , at the counter is the usual scene ; a saudi is busy blowing his lights out at the indian worker - why ?.. the price of the product is just not satisfactory to the Saudi customer .. hence the insult on the worker's family and origin and the constant reminder that he is " ONLY HERE TO SERVE THE NEEDS OF THE SAUDIS": yes master !!! .
 I'm sure that sounds a little over played to those of you who have never been to Saudi Arabia [ the HOLY COUNTRY ], but to those of us who have lived there, gone to their schools, walked their streets and went to their hospitals , its just another day of another week where we remind ourselves not only do we not have a country to go back to ; we have to give up our rights to respect and dignity if we want to stay where we are . 

The words to best describe a saudi is :IGNORANT AND ARROGANT . its as easy as that . for example  last year as i returned from somalia , i was forced to swallow my own tongue so i would not have to deal with another saudi officer . here is how it all went down .. as i made my way through the customes at jeddah international airport , the officer at the desk asked me a question in arabic  i did not hear what he said so i asked him to please repeat what he said [ let me mention i do not speak in arabic but i do very much understand it ], so he asked again and you could see he was getting annoyed. i replied in english and as i  got my passport back and made it out , he made sure i heard him say : "MANFOO7A ITDAWAARAT" [manfooha is a Somali neighbourhood in Riyadh and itdawaarat means developed] his point ? - stop trying to act all smart because you can speak english .

Ofcourse there's always two sides to every story and this one is no exception . its very much as simple as " SOMALIS NEVER FAIL TO RUIN THEIR OWN REPUTATION " . over the last few years , the number of illegal somali residents in the kingdom has just hit sky high records . Forced out of their own homes , you would think they would have the common sense to start out clean but guess again. Drug dealing , stealing , prostitution and alcohol smuggling.  You name it and we are somehow connected . the sad part is its always the legal residents who pay the price for those idiots. 
and we wonder why we are always mistreated ..