Twitter campaign highlights poverty in Saudi Arabia

[VelocuR]

Twitter campaign highlights
poverty in Saudi Arabia

By Daisy Carrington, for CNN
September 6, 2013 -- Updated 0402 GMT (1202 HKT)

"There's a long list of things that are wrong," she adds.

Unemployment is higher than one might suspect in the oil-rich nation. Though official figures are hard to come by, there are approximately 1.8 million Saudis enrolled with Hafiz -- the country's unemployment benefits program -- according to Adam Coogle, a Middle East researcher with Human Rights Watch.

A Twitter campaign highlights poverty in the oil rich country of Saudi Arabia.

"What you see on the surface are the shiny buildings and the shopping malls and the new universities being built -- the wealthy side. I was actually quite shocked when we went to the slums," she says. She recounted families struggling to pay the bills, and living in single-story, cockroach infested houses in the heart of Saudi Arabia's capital.

"Poverty in Saudi challenges many people's assumptions, including some Saudis'," admits Nazer. Poverty and unemployment are particularly rife among Saudi youths (Coogle estimates they make up anywhere between 18 and 35% of the unemployment rate), and even more so among women.

Several factors, he argues, have fed unemployment, including a population explosion -- since the '70s, Saudi has grown from 6 million people to nearly 20 million, with an additional 10 million expats competing with nationals for jobs. Adding to the problem is the fact that in the past, many Saudis chose to study religion and languages -- areas for which there is little demand.

"It's a complex situation, as is true of any economy. People who try to trivialize or simplify it miss a lot of variables," says Nazer.

Regardless of where one stands on the issue, what's been particularly surprising is the willingness of Saudis -- who traditionally value cultural privacy -- to air their grievances in an international forum.

"It's true, we are a very private nation, and we don't want the rest of the world to know anything about us," admits Al Sharif. However, she says, it's a price many Saudis are willing to pay.

@Yzd Khalifa @Arabian Legend @al-Hasani

 

[al-Hasani]

By far the majority of all the poor are Afro-Arabs and illegal immigrants. Those used on the photo in your thread are one of them. Many reasons for that.

Stil only a small minority and the unemployment rate is less than 10% despite the big amount of migrant workers who are often making it impossible for the low-skilled locals to get a job since the migrant workers outscore them.

Some provinces are less rich than others though but being "poor" in KSA is being rich compared to most nations of this world.

Anyway 1 poor is 1 too many. This will be solved and many projects are being done in order to deal with it such as creating thousands of new jobs of all kind.

 

[haman10]

i think instead of spending hundreds of billion dollars on shitty american military gear and support of terrorists in syria , iraq and....

its better if saudi regime give more attention to its people!!!
@Yzd Khalifa: what do u think bro?

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

"It's true, we are a very private nation, and we don't want the rest of the world to know anything about us," admits Al Sharif. However, she says, it's a price many Saudis are willing to pay.

What a pathological lair the witch knows that the Gov't reveals Hafiz, and Nataqat statistics monthly, why lying ?

The issue is that nearly %50 who registered in Hafiz happens to be rich by family. In addition to this the UNREGISTERED Saudi Burmese happen to live in similar condition to those who came here illegally. As such, they are creating a big bubble of which we are living in nowadays.

By far the majority of all the poor are Afro-Arabs and illegal immigrants. Those used on the photo in your thread are one of them. Many reasons for that.

Stil only a small minority and the unemployment rate is less than 10% despite the big amount of migrant workers who are often making it impossible for the low-skilled locals to get a job since the migrant workers outscore them.

Some provinces are less rich than others though but being "poor" in KSA is being rich compared to most nations of this world.

Anyway 1 poor is 1 too many. This will be solved and many projects are being done in order to deal with it such as creating thousands of new jobs of all kind.

Hundreds of billions? :/
The weapons we have are on cutting-edge bro! You know nothing!

i think instead of spending hundreds of billion dollars on shitty american military gear and support of terrorists in syria , iraq and....

its better if saudi regime give more attention to its people!!!
@Yzd Khalifa: what do u think bro?

The major social people we have in here is in no way related to our own people but those who stay here unregistered.

 

[al-Hasani]

i think instead of spending hundreds of billion dollars on shitty american military gear and support of terrorists in syria , iraq and....

its better if saudi regime give more attention to its people!!!
@Yzd Khalifa: what do u think bro?

You should not worry about one of the richest countries in the world and people. A G20 member state moreover when your Mullahistan is 10 times poorer and much more backward.

We are the fastest growing economy in the Muslim world, our region and among the fastest growing economies in the whole world.

A few illegal immigrants that should be deported from the country and a few Afro-Arabs and few youths without jobs living on welfare because they are too lazy to study is not going to change that.

There are so-called "poor" people in the country I study in currently (Danmark) despite that being called the most equal and developed country in the world by many analysts.

Being poor in KSA is not the same as being poor in India, Africa etc. Or Iran for that matter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-20_major_economies

Yes we will continue to target you Pagans and Child-Murderers and defeat your tiny minority cult as always throughout the history.

 

[Ibrahim.]

By majority i will say i agree with the veiws that africans,illegal immingrants those who come for umrah and stay till the pass away,and the beggars who have usually an amputation or two and who happen to be african too comprise the vast majority of the "poor",infact they can be a big irritant,usually when people come out of malls they are known to snatch and steal.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

One more thing please, don't say illegal immigrants, those are human beings, they are unregistered.

You should not worry about one of the richest countries in the world and people. A G20 member state moreover when your Mullahistan is 10 times poorer and much more backward.

We are the fastest growing economy in the Muslim world, our region and among the fastest growing economies in the whole world.

A few illegal immigrants that should be deported from the country and a few Afro-Arabs and few youths without jobs living on welfare because they are too lazy to study is not going to change that.

There are so-called "poor" people in the country I study in currently (Danmark) despite that being called the most equal and developed country in the world by many analysts.

Being poor in KSA is not the same as being poor in India, Africa etc. Or Iran for that matter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-20_major_economies

 

[VelocuR]

I think, media press tend to find small issues but they need to discuss Detroit and poverty levels.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

By majority i will say i agree with the veiws that africans,illegal immingrants those who come for umrah and stay till the pass away,and the beggars who have usually an amputation or two and who happen to be african too comprise the vast majority of the "poor",infact they can be a big irritant,usually when people come out of malls they are known to snatch and steal.

What do you want us to do bro the best thing we could afford is a rough and ready place to stay and food.

I still respect your opinion though, despite the fact that it is a little bit harsh.

 

[al-Hasani]

One more thing please, don't say illegal immigrants, those are human beings, they are unregistered.

Well, they are still illegals. They are a problem as I see it. Legal migrant workers and illegal migrant workers are two different things. No country tolerates illegals. We cannot nor should we feed all the unfortunate individuals from across the world while forgetting our own in the process.

Enough of that. Don't like it? Get out of our country. Simple as that.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

I think, media press tend to find small issues but they need to discuss Detroit and poverty levels.

We often get to see similar articles as this in our newspaper, but what the info the CNN provided in this article is utterly inaccurate.

The US is on a different pattern though.

 

[Ibrahim.]

and with being illegal they also possess drugs,arms and sometimes a herion shot or two,i say they should be cleaned off.
they have to be deported but the problem is they have no country to go to LOL so the best is to employ them as sweeping staff or the prisons

 

[al-Hasani]

and with being illegal they also possess drugs,arms and sometimes a herion shot or two,i say they should be cleaned off.
they have to be deported but the problem is they have no country to go to LOL so the best is to employ them as sweeping staff or the prisons

That is not the solution. The solution is for their countries of birth to solve their own issues and learn to help their unfortunate cases instead of sending them to us or elsewhere. We cannot help all and I am not going to tolerate our own citizens being forgotten at the expense of foreigners who badmouth us in the same process while living in our lands. We have 1-2 of such cases on this forum.

Let them help our poor for once. Or their fellow illegal immigrants in our lands or elsewhere. Why not a change for once? We are not the only rich country. Far from it.

Tired of the demanding attitude from outsiders. Like we own them something. What a joke. Whom of them are helping the Yemenis just south of us?

 

[VelocuR]

We often get to see similar articles as this in our newspaper, but what the info the CNN provided in this article is utterly inaccurate.

The US is on a different pattern though.

That's why I ask you and Saudi counterparts instead bullshit media!

 

[Ibrahim.]

ok people face it half of the indian,pakistani,bengali muslims would love a chance to go to saudi,but we have to respect there language and traditions,when we go there we need to atleast talk in there language or atleast try to learn arabic,and plus saudi has already provided for us for many years.