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13th November 2013
An article in the Washington Post by David Ignatius reveals previously unreported French involvement in Yemen's Houthi conflict last year.
It says that the Saudis asked the US for imagery from surveillance satellites to assist their bombing of rebel positions in Yemen, but this was blocked by the… Read more
12th November 2013
Saudi Arabia – once described as "the world's largest women's prison" – has finally won a seat on the UN Human Rights Council.
There's still a slim chance that the kingdom, having been duly elected, will now turn the seat down, as it did last month when elected to the UN Security Council.
In… Read more
12th November 2013
The Saudi authorities arrested a total of 33,353 “illegal expatriates” and deported 14,304 during the first week of the crackdown against migrants which began on November 4, according to the General Directorate of Prisons.
In Riyadh, some 17,000 “illegal Ethiopians” have surrendered following the… Read more
11th November 2013
Following an eight-day fact-finding visit to Qatar a UN investigator has called for an end to the restrictive sponsorship system for employing expatriate workers.
François Crépeau, the UN’s special rapporteur on migrants’ rights, said Qatar should make it easier for migrants to change employers… Read more
10th November 2013
Two people died in Riyadh on Saturday in fights involving foreign migrants, Saudi citizens and police.
The rioting, in the Manfouhah district of the capital – a poor neighbourhood where many East Africans live – was the worst outbreak of violence since the Saudi authorities launched their "all-out… Read more
9th November 2013
Thousands of expatriate taxi drivers in Jeddah have stopped work as result of Saudi Arabia's crackdown on migrant labour. Many have already left the kingdom – never to return – but most are thought to be in hiding for fear of arrest and deportation.
One company manager, Abdullah al-Shehri, told … Read more
8th November 2013
Dressed in a spotless white thobe, Madinah's municipality chief picked up a brush yesterday to assist other Saudi officials in sweeping the streets around the Prophet's Mosque.
This unprecedented but largely symbolic move came when the regular street cleaners stopped work in protest at the arrest… Read more
7th November 2013
YouTube video said to show hundreds of Yemeni migrants attempting to flee a Saudi detention centre in Altwal, Jazan province, on Tuesday
Wednesday – Day Three of Saudi Arabia's "all-out" crackdown on "illegal" migrant workers – brought news of the first death. Riyadh's police chief said an… Read more
6th November 2013
Thousands more foreigners were arrested in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday – Day Two of the kingdom's "all-out" campaign to get rid of undocumented expatriate workers.
The Jeddah-based Arab News reports:
"Officials of labour and interior ministries said they recorded arrests in Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh,… Read more
5th November 2013
Undocumented Indonesian workers gathering under a bridge in Jeddah on Sunday.
The Saudi authorities must have been delighted to see John Kerry, the US secretary of state, paying a schmooze visit to the king on Monday. This gave the western media something to talk about and diverted attention… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
