By Ian Black
Riyadh — Under the watchful eyes of Saudi policemen slouched in their squad cars along a rundown street, little knots of Ethiopian men sit chatting on doorsteps and sprawl on threadbare grass at one of Riyadh’s busiest junctions. These are tense, wary times in Manfouha, a few minutes’ drive from the capital’s glittering towers and swanky shopping malls.
Manfouha is the bleak frontline in Saudi Arabia’s campaign to get rid of its illegal foreign workers, control the legal ones and help get more of its own citizens into work. This month two or three Ethiopians were killed here after a raid erupted into full-scale rioting.
Keeping their distance from the officers parked every few hundred metres, the Ethiopians look shifty and sound nervous. “Of course I have an iqama [residence permit],” insisted Ali, a gaunt twentysomething man in cheap leather jacket and jeans. “I wouldn’t be standing here if I hadn’t.”
But he didn’t have the document on him. And his story, in broken Arabic, kept changing: he was in the process of applying for one; actually, no, his kafeel (sponsor) had it. It didn’t sound as if it would convince the police or passport inspection teams prowling the neighbourhood.
Until recently, of the kingdom’s 30 million residents, more than nine million were non-Saudis. Since the labour crackdown started in March, one million Bangladeshis, Indians, Filipinos, Nepalis, Pakistanis and Yemenis have left. And the campaign has moved into higher gear after the final deadline expired on 4 November, with dozens of repatriation flights now taking place every day. By next year, two million migrants will have gone.
Read more at The Guardian.
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Watch: VOA’s Straight Talk Africa on The Ethiopian Migrant Crisis in Saudi Arabia (Video)
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Related:
Saudi Arabia Deports 50,000 Ethiopian Workers (SKY News)
50000 Ethiopian Workers in Saudi Arabia Sent Home (AFP)
Week Three: Ethiopians Rally in Portland Against Saudi Abuse of Migrants
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Ethiopian rallies urge end to mistreatment of migrants in Saudi Arabia (The Denver Post)
Beyond Outrage: How the African Diaspora Can Support Migrant Workers (Huffington Post)
Photos: Ethiopians Hold Protest at Saudi Embassy in Los Angeles (TADIAS)
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Photos: NYC Ethiopians Make Presence Felt at the Saudi Mission to the United Nations (TADIAS)
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Ethiopians march in downtown Dallas to protest abuse in Saudi Arabia (Dallas News)
Sioux Falls, South Dakota: Ethiopians Protest Killings In Saudi Arabia (KDLT News)
Ethiopians demonstrate outside Saudi embassy in London (BBC News)
Canada: Ethiopian community protests working conditions in Saudi Arabia (CTV News)
The Ethiopian Migrant Crisis in Saudi Arabia: Taking Accountability (TADIAS)
Tadias Interview With Rima Kalush: Migrant-Rights Org Seeks Long Term Solutions
Ethiopians Continue Peaceful Protests Against Migrant Abuse in Saudi Arabia (TADIAS)
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Photos: Ethiopians Hold Protest Outside Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C. (TADIAS)
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Ethiopians: #SomeoneTellSaudiArabia to Stop Crackdown (Global Voices)
First group of Ethiopians from Saudi arrive in Addis (ERTA)
23,000 Ethiopians ‘Surrender’ in Saudi After Clamp Down (BBC)
Three Ethiopians Killed in Saudi Arabia Visa Crackdown (AFP)
Ethiopian Domestic Help Abuse Headlines From the Middle East (TADIAS)
Changing Ethiopia’s Media Image: The Case of People-Trafficking (TADIAS)
Video: Ethiopian migrants tell of torture and rape in Yemen (BBC)
Video: Inside Yemen’s ‘torture camps’ (BBC News)
BBC Uncovers Untold People-Trafficking, Torture of Ethiopians in Yemen (TADIAS)
Meskerem Assefa Advocates for Ethiopian Women in the Middle East (TADIAS)
In Memory of Alem Dechassa: Reporting & Mapping Domestic Migrant Worker Abuse
Photos: Vigil for Alem Dechassa Outside Lebanon Embassy in D.C.
The Plight of Ethiopian Women in the Middle East: Q & A With Rahel Zegeye
Ethiopians Returning From Saudi Arabia Describe Horrible Attacks http://t.co/EFWepkLsct
— Tadias Magazine (@TadiasNews) November 17, 2013