Saudi Arabia, A Soulless Theocracy -By Albert Afeso Akanbi

The Plight Of African Immigrants In Saudi Arabia.

“To the Saudis…it’s like we’re ants. When we die, it’s as if an ant died, no one cares or pays attention,”
 – An African immigrant in Saudi Arabia.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, one of the wealthiest countries on planet Earth, the land of the Prophet of Islam, the birthplace of the religion, and a nation of people who, for over 1500 years, have imbibed Islamic teachings and principles, should, by all means, be a theocratic State that’s a shining light in matters of morality.

It won’t be wrong to expect that, like the Vatican, another theocratic State with no standing army, the phrase Saudi Arabia would not be seen in a sentence where words “racism”, “intolerance” “discrimination” and so on, are mentioned…

Sadly, this is not the case…just yesterday, a damning report about the Gulf nation’s treatment of people who are different, either by religion or race, came to light…

Racism in the Arab world covers an array of forms of intolerance against non-Arabs especially black Africans, and Saudi leads the pack…

Not just that, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia proxy conflict is an ongoing struggle for influence in the Middle East which has led to blood, tears, and untold suffering for nations around the region, and Saudi is at the center of it…

Despite being the cradle of a religion whose adherents insist is a religion of peace, Saudi Arabia, a nation rated the fourth largest military spender on Earth with military bases in places like Djibouti, became the world’s largest arms importer from 2014,  accounting for 12 percent of the importation of arms according to reports by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)…

While we can excuse this spending as the action of a nation threatened by an enemy, Iran, when we consider it as matters of the heart, we find that the exploitation and abuse of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia has been deeply ingrained in the fabrics of the country’s soul, so much so that one would be tempted to ask what the value is, in the Islamic faith that the country exports through its Wahabists and other theologians.

As we speak, according to the Telegraph of UK, Saudi Arabia keeps hundreds of African migrants in deplorable conditions, in detention camps that can pass as concentration camps, “to reportedly prevent the spread of Covid-19” despite the fact that these treatment has been going on long before the pandemic started…

For example, the squalid detention centers in southern Saudi Arabia as it is elsewhere across the country,  fall well short of international standards…so much so that when a young boy of sixteen was reported to have managed to hang himself because he couldn’t bear the suffering any longer, last month, the guards were said to have just thrown the body out as if it was trash…

So many black African are facing hell across the nation, and reports are that many of them have become mentally ill and have died after being maltreated and brutalised, and many more willingly take their own lives…

Black Africa is blessed, black Africa is rich, black Africa has sons and daughters who are genius and as a matter of fact, are doing very well in other countries…

Why should our youths continue to face hardship in an attempt to escape the ills that have been created here by external powers and their local collaborators? From Europe to the Middle East, African youths are daily on the open seas and dry desert, seeking escape from home. WHY?

Wake up Africa… laqad tafah alkay, enough is enough…