Saudi Arabia's "sleazy underworld"

This article from the BBC is old, written in 2001, but I think it still conveys a lot of the (mis)perceptions regarding Saudi Arabia and "seedy underculture." Popular perceptions of Saudi Arabia include strict adherence to Islam. Yet this article indicates that, as in many other places, an underculture of alcohol, drugs and sex is present, if one knows where to look.

I found two sections particularly interesting. The first is that these vices are "assigned" to specific ethinic foreigners. "Filipinos brew the illicit alcohol, he said, while Yemenis and Indians sell it. The prostitutes tend to be from Nigeria and Ethiopia, the drug peddlars are from Pakistan," Khaled told the BBC reporter, Frank Gardner. Although this is probably not true across the kingdom (or even eight years later), I found the fact that certain ethnic groups were identified with particular forms of illicit activities interesting.

The second section I found interesting was the punishment for crimes in illicit activities. "Jail and eighty lashes with the cane for alcohol, a serious prison sentence for drugs, and deportation for foreign prostitutes. Drug smugglers are executed." The thought of a jail sentence and whipping is somewhat incomprehensible to an American, as are the other punishments.

Even in areas not part of what is often characterized as a "seedy underculture," punishments are harsh. One case that I recalled reading in the news a few years ago was the punishment of a Saudi rape victim sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in jail (her attackers, once convicted, received prison sentences ranging from two to ten years, still low considering rape is a capital offense).

The strict adherence to religious prescriptions, by the state itself, is very different for an American where there is the (supposed) separation between Church and State. Yet, as the first article indicates, strict punishment and enforcement does not stop an underculture from taking root.

Abuse of Foreign Domestic Workers

There are an estimated 1.5 million foreigners working as domestic servants in Saudi Arabia, mostly from South/Southeastern Asian countries like Indonesia, the Phillipines, and Sri Lanka. The vicious abuses that they sometimes suffer and the difficulties they have in escaping these abusive environments are the subject of an open letter from Human Rights Watch to the governments of Indonesia and S.A. Saudi employment visas work in such a way as to prevent foreign workers from changing jobs or leaving the country until their employer allows them to. Saudi labor law does not apply to migrant workers, so they have no entitlement to time off and hence little opportunity to talk to law enforcement authorities and file a complaint.



The Saudis are not ignorant of the problem. A Saudi company is even sponsoring a media campaign about the abuse of foreign workers, appealing to religious decency with the exhortation: He who shows no mercy, will receive no mercy. What really struck me in the BBC reportage is that some Saudis seemed more upset about the abuses being revealed than about the abuses themselves. Campaign critics point out that domestic workers are abused in other countries too (as if this were an excuse) or say that "discussing domestic problems on satellite channels turns them into a scandal [for Saudi Arabia]". And why should it not be a scandal? Can't a scandal be a good thing if it finally forces a government to correct hidden actions that would be considered shameful according to international norms? The argument that many foreign domestics are treated just fine by their Saudi employers and therefore it shouldn't be broadcast as a serious problem is not very forcible, in my opinion. So long as any domestic workers are being abused and, just as importantly, are allowed to be abused by a fundamentally inadequate legal system, how can complacency be an option?

And, if anyone's interested, here is another little BBC article about the treatment of migrant laborers working outside the domestic sphere.

Bluetooth Used Mostly for Swapping Porn in Saudi Arabia

After embarrassingly scouring the web at the library searching for terms such as "porn Saudi Arabia", I found this article to be rather interesting. It is how men who bluetooth connectivity are abusing the technology against girls.

A recent study found that pornographic material accounted for nearly 70 percent of messages exchanged by teenagers. Abdullah ibn Mohammed Al-Rasheed, associate professor at the College of Dawa and Information in Riyadh, who conducted the study, said 88 percent of girls had been victims of such misuse.

It seems that human nature takes over no mater how strict things may get. It reminded me of something I heard last year about how boys and girls use bluetooth to check each other out and flirt.

There seems to be no real rules of conduct of bluetooth in Saudi Arabia because it is not being discussed about. All of it is underground in a way. Innocent flirting to pornographic messages all seem to be too taboo to establish what is okay and what is not. It is also harder to punish those because of how mobile and "minor" in a sense the infraction can be. While there seems to be some policing of this, it may not be enough. In a place that is very conservative, ingenious technology use is thwarting known social codes. As huge shocker to all of us, they are even on it in the mosque.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything the government is able to do about such technologies and incorporating them in sharia law.