Longtime refugees may get Saudi citizenship

March 10, 2013

Longtime_refugees_citizenship

Jeddah, Mar 10: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal yesterday indicated that Saudi Arabia may give citizenship to refugees who have been living in the Kingdom for several years as part of government’s efforts to correct their residency situation.

Addressing a forum for developing disorganized residential districts in the Makkah region, Prince Khaled said the project would focus mainly on people living in these districts, especially foreign refugees like the Burmese.

“We have agreed with the Labor Ministry to create jobs for them. We also told big companies implementing projects in the region to make use of these residents… and one day they become good citizens,” the governor said.

“This is the vision of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and this is the king’s program to correct the situation of these people and this is a commitment from this state and they have a right on this country to take care of them,” he explained.

The Labor Ministry announced recently it would consider employment of four Burmese, Turkistanis and Palestinians equal to one foreigner, encouraging private companies to employ these refugees who are readily available in the country, instead of recruiting foreign workers.

“The problem of disorganized districts is not limited to Makkah or Saudi Arabia. This is an international problem. Disorganized districts could be found in major cities of the world,” he said while opening the forum organized by Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah.

He said the problem was created in Makkah after thousands of pilgrims who had come to the city for Haj and Umrah in the past stayed in the country even after the expiry of their visas. There are others who had run away from their countries because of religious oppression.

He emphasized the need for providing iqamas to refugees living in disorganized districts of Makkah and other cities of the region to change their status in the beginning, and provide them with jobs. “We should also give them education and training before making plans for the reconstruction of these districts,” he added.

Prince Khaled said the government’s main concern is not removal of old buildings in these districts or construction of new roads but to improve the living condition of people living in these areas.

He said the individuals and families living in those districts would be given alternative housing facilities before demolishing their old houses. The two-day forum is being held on the university’s campus in Abidiya, Makkah.

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News Network
May 1,2020

Dubai, May 1: Saudi Arabia has reported 1,344 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 24,097, the Ministry of Health announced on Friday.

The ministry also announced 7 more deaths and 392 new recoveries, raising the total number of fatalities and recoveries to 169 and 3,55 respectively.

Out of the 1,344 new cases reported today, 282 were confirmed in Riyadh, 237 in Madinah, 207 in Makkah, 171 in Jubail and 124 in Jeddah in addition to 114 infections in Dammam.

Authorities continue to urge people to stay at home unless necessary despite having relaxed some restrictions and curfews at the start of Ramadan.

Citizens and residents are allowed to go out for necessary needs between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. but must adhere to precautionary measures such as wearing a face mask and maintaining social distancing practices.

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Agencies
July 19,2020

Occupied Jerusalem, Jul 19: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial resumed on Sunday.

Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals in which he is alleged to have received lavish gifts from billionaire friends and exchanged regulatory favors with media moguls for more agreeable coverage of himself and his family.

Netanyahu denies wrongdoing, painting the accusations as a media-orchestrated witchhunt pursued by a biased law enforcement system.

The trial opened in May. Just before appearing in front of the judges, Netanyahu took to a podium inside the courthouse and flanked by his party members bashed the country’s legal institutions in an angry tirade.

Netanyahu was not expected to appear at Sunday’s hearing, which is taking place at an occupied Jerusalem court and is mostly a procedural deliberation.

The trial resumes as Netanyahu faces widespread anger over his government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.

While the country appeared to have tamped down a first wave of infections, what’s emerged as a hasty and erratic reopening sent infections soaring. Yet even amid the rise in new cases Netanyahu and his emergency government — formed with the goal of dealing with the crisis — appeared to neglect the numbers and moved forward with other policy priorities and its reopening plans.

It has since paused them and even re-impose restrictions, including a weekend only lockdown set to begin later this week.

Netanyahu’s government has been criticized for a baffling, halting response to the new wave, which has seen daily cases rise to nearly 2,000. It has been slammed for its handling of the economic fallout of the crisis.

His trial thus comes at inopportune timing. Netanyahu had hoped to ride on the goodwill he gained from overcoming the first wave of infections going into his corruption trial, but the increasingly souring mood has affected his approval rating and may deny him the public backing he had hoped for. The anger has sparked protests over the past few weeks that have culminated in violent clashes with police.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Dubai, Jan 8: Iranian state television said on Wednesday that at least 80 "American terrorists" were killed in attacks involving 15 missiles Tehran launched on US targets in Iraq, adding that none of the missiles were intercepted.

State TV, citing a senior Revolutionary Guards source, also said Iran had 100 other targets in the region in its sights if Washington took any retaliatory measures. It also said US helicopters and military equipment were "severely damaged".

Iran launched missile attacks on US-led forces in Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday in retaliation for the US drone strike on an Iranian commander whose killing has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East.

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