Saudi Arabia: Are Ahmadis welcome in Saudi Arabia as job seekers and future employees? What are the restrictions against Ahmadis working or seeking work in Saudi Arabia? How are Ahmadis treated by Saudi authorities and employers? What type of verification is undertaken by Saudi authorities and employers concerning Ahmadi job applicants?
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 August 1990 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SAU6683 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Saudi Arabia: Are Ahmadis welcome in Saudi Arabia as job seekers and future employees? What are the restrictions against Ahmadis working or seeking work in Saudi Arabia? How are Ahmadis treated by Saudi authorities and employers? What type of verification is undertaken by Saudi authorities and employers concerning Ahmadi job applicants?, 1 August 1990, SAU6683, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad0758.html [accessed 20 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
No specific information regarding the above is currently available to the IRBDC in Ottawa.
According to the U.S. Department of State, however, "freedom of religion is greatly circumscribed" in Saudi Arabia and proselytizing, which is illegal, can lead to deportation (U.S. Department of State, p.1488). During the Islamic States Conference in Saudi Arabia in 1974, Pakistan declared the Ahmadi sect to be non-Muslim, thus preventing Ahmadis from performing the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca (Phillips, ed., p.289). In the Mecca region, there exist road signs that prohibit the presence of Non-Muslims in the area (Richey, The Christian Science Monitor, 18-24 April 1988). As for the type of verification undertaken by Saudi authorities, custom officers can easily find out about the non-Muslim status of Ahmadis because religion is indicated on Pakistani passports (Passport Handbook, p.P2, eighth line of the passport). On the general status of foreigners in Saudi Arabia, please find attached a recent article from The Middle East, which draws a portrait of the treatment of migrant workers in the kingdom (December 1989, p.23-24).
According to The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Ahmadis are considered heretic and they face "fierce opposition" in the Muslim countries (Macropaedia, vol.22, p.18). The Ahmadiyya Community of Toronto corroborates that the sect members are unwanted in Saudi Arabia and that they "are bitterly persecuted" (Telephone conversation of 13 March 1990). The Ahmadiyya Community's spokesperson added that if Ahmadis do not flee upon being identified as Ahmadis, they are sure to be "immediately imprisoned and deported" (Ibid). This information could not be corroborated in sources currently available to the IRBDC in Ottawa.
Saudi Arabia introduced a quota system on the number of pilgrims allowed in the country every year (KUNA, 11 April 1990). Saudi clerics also condemned, in 1988, another group of heretics, the Bahais, for the sect's denegation of orthodox Muslim principles (The Ottawa Citizen, 13 February 1988).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Interior Minister on Restrictions on Pilgrims", KUNA [Kuwait, in English], 11 April 1990 at 0818GMT, reported in: Foreign Broadcast Information Service-NES-90-071, 12 April 1990, p.11.
"Muslim Clerics Condemn Baha'i", The Ottawa Citizen, 13 February 1988.
Passport Handbook to Check the Authenticity of Passports, Utrecht: Kluwerpers, updated as changes are registered.
Phillips, Alan
World Directory of Minorities, London: Longman, 1989.
Richey, Warren
"This Hajj Isn't Big Enough for Both of Us", The Christian Science Monitor [Boston], 18-24 April 1988.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Macropaedia, vol.22, Londres: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1989.
United States Department of State
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1989, Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1990; this document is available through your regional Documentation Centre.
Wilson, Peter
"Saudi Arabia: The Foreigners are Here to Stay", The Middle East, December 1989, p.23.
