Expats born in Saudi must be given citizenship: Scholar

A prominent Saudi Islamic scholar has urged the government to grant citizenship to foreigners who are born in the Gulf Kingdom.

“Expatriates who are born in Saudi Arabia should be granted the Saudi citizenship…or they could be allowed to stay without a sponsor….there should be a new system that will give them special treatment,” Mohammed Al Areefi said on his Twitter page.

Another well-known Saudi scholar said a present campaign by the government to deport expatriates who are staying illegally is not fair to those who have lived in the Arab country for a long time.

“How could they deport those who grew up here and who have known every home and every street in this neighborhood…they have never left Saudi Arabia and I believe deporting them amounts to a death sentence against them,” Salman Al Aoudi said.

More than one million expatriates have left Saudi Arabia since the government announced an amnesty in April in a bid to flush out all illegal migrants. The pardon will end this week and the government has ruled out extending the period.

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