Chadian workers in Saudi Arabia condemned to illegality
More than 100,000 people, mostly born in Saudi, cannot get citizenship and have no right to a residence permit. They cannot go to school nor can they receive medical care in hospitals.
New York (AsiaNews/HRW) More than 100,000 people from Chad have lived and worked in Saudi Arabia for years, most were born there but they do not have a regular residence permit and have not managed to get Saudi citizenship. They are deprived of their right to education and healthcare.
The non-governmental organization, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said for the past two years, the Saudi government has failed to renew the biannual permits of around 100,000 people originally from Chad, without giving any explanation. With permits, they must return to Chad although most were born in Saudi and have never even seen Africa. Many have already been arrested and forcibly deported. Saudi law makes it impossible for them to get citizenship because they do not have the necessary educational or financial criteria.
Joe Stork, deputy director for the HRW Middle East and North Africa Division, said a circular was sent by the Saudi Ministry of Education to schools on December 26, 2004, marked "important and urgent". It instructed teachers to fill a questionnaire for each Chadian student, indicating the family's monthly income and type of work, as well as any history of violence in the family and of violent conduct by the student. Starting in March 2005, continued Stork, the government began to expel Chadian children from public schools because their parents had no permit. Some students from Chadian families and born in Arabia who went to study at universities abroad, had "final exit" stamped on their passports to prevent their return.
HRW also reported the testimonies of many citizens refused assistance in hospitals in Jeddah, like the Re Abd al-Aziz hospital, even in emergency cases or when they were about to give birth, because they did not have residence permits.
Stork said the discrimination started after November 2003, when the special police arrested a man from Chad suspected of terrorism. The fear that other Chadian people may be implicated in local terrorism has led to the marginalization of the entire ethnic group.
HRW said months ago, it requested information from organizations and bodies like the Ministry for the Interior and Saudi's national Commission for Human Rights, but has not received anything.
The NGO called upon the Saudi government to cease discrimination based on nationality and drew attention to the Convention of the Rights of the Child, especially children's rights to education and health care. Saudi Arabia adhered to this convention in 1996.
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