Saudi Arabia

Date of Independence: September 23, 1932

Capital: Riyadh

Population: 34.2 million (2019)

Foreign-Born Population: 13.2 million or 38.3% of population (2019)

Government Structure: Islamic Sovereign State under Absolute Monarchy

Leader: King Salman bin Abdulaziz

Primary Flow of Immigration:

Rate of immigration higher exceeds rate of emigration; receiving country
The majority of migrants come from East African and South Asian developing countries, looking for economic opportunities
The highest numbers come from India at 17.5 million and Indonesia at 1.6 million

Current Stance on Immigration:

Strong policy against illegal immigration
Homes/businesses raided, migrants kept in inhumane detention facilities, family separations, abuse and death reported in facilities, not unlike US-Mexico border

Recent Immigration Policy:

2018 campaign “Nation Without Violators” targeted foreign nationals without valid residency permits
Thousand of Ethiopian migrants deported from March to October 2020 apparently due to COVID-19 concerns and lack of space, rights groups report “unimaginable cruelty” (Global Detention Project)

Further Reading:

Immigrant labor managed through the kafala system: migrants must have secured job before arriving, and work under sponsor for the duration of their stay; residence permit depends on maintaining the sponsorship
Under Nitaqat Program, or “Saudization”, companies were classified based on how many Saudi citizens they had in their work force; quota must be met to be able to employ any immigrants
After the United States, Saudi Arabia has the highest remittance levels in the world (money sent back to home country of migrants)

Sources:

CIA.gov. (2021, March 1). Saudi Arabia—The World Factbook. The World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/saudi-arabia/#people-and-society

Population, total—Saudi Arabia | Data. (n.d.). The World Bank. Retrieved March 6, 2021, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=SA

Sadek, G. (2018, February 23). Saudi Arabia: Authorities Launch New “Nation Without Violators” Campaign Targeting Illegal Foreign Workers | Global Legal Monitor [Web page]. Library of Congress. //www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/saudi-arabia-authorities-launch-new-nation-without-violators-campaign-targeting-illegal-foreign-workers/

Saudi Arabia Immigration Detention Profile. (2021). Global Detention Project. https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/countries/middle-east/saudi-arabia

The Embassy of Saudi Arabia. (n.d.). Home | The Embassy of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Retrieved March 6, 2021, from https://www.saudiembassy.net/

World Migration Report. (n.d.). Retrieved March 6, 2021, from https://www.iom.int/wmr/

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