Encounter with illegal Nigerian migrants in Saudi Arabia

A typical day in the life of Ameera, a Nigerian illegal immigrant in Saudi Arabia (Tukari), begins at 6pm and ends at 6am when she retires to her mountain top shelter, a small room apartment she shares with her husband and three children. She returns with takeaway foods for her kids and herself to eat […]

A typical day in the life of Ameera, a Nigerian illegal immigrant in Saudi Arabia (Tukari), begins at 6pm and ends at 6am when she retires to her mountain top shelter, a small room apartment she shares with her husband and three children. She returns with takeaway foods for her kids and herself to eat before she retires to bed.

At 7pm she wakes up and walks to a street close to the holy mosque (Haram), an hour walk from her home, where she displays a variety of cloths for pilgrims’ patronage.

To many pilgrims who buy cheap goods from Ameera and her co-sellers, the business doesn’t look unusual, but they sell under a constant fear of being caught and deported by the Saudi authorities.

Ameera’s situation is not isolated; it is one of the many lives of thousands of undocumented Nigerians and other Africans living in Madina and Makkah. Constant fear and uncertainty look them in the face and threaten their peace and the opportunity to live comfortable lives.

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A look into the lives of these illegal immigrants and their children showed how their lives come with a fair share of challenges.

Being an undocumented immigrant in Saudi Arabia means being afraid to walk freely in the streets or go to various places of work, as well as the fact that one’s children would not attend school or even walk freely outside their house.

Parents without legal status told our correspondent that their children do not have access to formal education in the Holy Land, which they said would limit their opportunity to break their cycle of hardship in the kingdom.

“Once you are undocumented you cannot enroll your child in school. That’s how we watch them grow to adulthood and end up doing menial jobs. Only parents with work permits can take their children to school; and they constitute less than 10 per cent of Nigerians living in Saudi Arabia.

“Ninety per cent of Nigerians cannot afford it because it is very costly. You need over N20 million to get it,” Ameera explained. 

She further said that even if one obtained the work permit, one’s children would not exceed secondary school, which automatically excludes them from getting a white-collar job.

Corroborating Ameera’s claim, her neighbour who simply identified herself as Huraira due to the sensitivity of the information, said thousands of children born by undocumented immigrants in the Kingdom would only roam the streets and play football.

She said, “We cannot send our children to school. It is quite disturbing that they don’t get any form of education. They only stay at home and play football and other games day and night.

“Their future is bleak because they can only look for menial jobs when they become adults. They have no opportunity to attend even the basic education here.”

Huraira said the community improvised an informal school where they paid a teacher monthly to teach their children in an informal setting.

“But deportation pressure from Saudi authorities has forced the teacher to stop coming. Even standing in public is terrifying. 

“Hundreds of people without legal status were arrested last week. Many people stayed indoors to avoid deportation but the authorities broke in and arrested them,” she also said.

Another undocumented immigrant who also identified himself as Adamu said they were removed from the houses they rented from Nigerian owners for decades and the whole place was demolished.

“The owners worked very hard and built the structures at their youthful ages but the buildings were demolished without any compensation. Our children and wives were thrown to the streets.

“When I was in Hare Goburawa, I paid a rent of 200 riyal per month, but now that the place has been demolished, I rented an apartment where I am forced to pay 1,000 riyal (N420,000) monthly, aside 200 riyal for electricity and water bill,” he narrated.

Asked whether his children attend school, he said, “I have plans to send them back to school in Nigeria because the system here has no provision for our kids.”

Many of them said their children would not go far from home to avoid exposing the parents’ hideouts and cause outright deportation. As a result, the children always look scared whenever a stranger comes around or approaches them.

Hassana and her husband, Abdul carries out business activities inside one of the narrow rooms visited, which is pressed against a staircase pillar and barely wide enough for a mattress.

Abdul goes out to convince pilgrims to buy from them while Hassana ensures that the house remains clean and locked. 

“We have lived here for over a decade and it is this business that sustains us and we even send money to support our parents in Nigeria. 

“Although it is a seasonal business, Alhamdullillah, we don’t lack anything. 

Whatever we get usually sustains us year-round. 

“Our only problem is that our kids don’t attend school, that is why we are planning to source enough capital and relocate to Nigeria where we can raise our children and be proud of them,” he said.

He noted that all the children in his neighborhood did not attend school for lack of official documents.

He added, “Even if someone helps you with Igama (work permit), deportation fear keeps the parents away, so who will take the children to school?” 

Abdul, who revealed that he was born in Makkah 39 years ago but has never attended any formal school said, “I don’t want my children to live the same life. We became labourers without dignity in this country. We were born here but still couldn’t get a status of citizenship. We are always afraid of being deported.”

He said their children attended informal schools in makeshift classes and the teachers would only teach with whatever material they could find.

“They are not qualified teachers but there is the need for survival. It doesn’t promise a future but it helps to educate the children. At least you will learn how to read and write,” he said.

A walk around the communities where the illegal immigrants live showed that most of the boys spend their lives playing games, especially football at the mountainous part of the town.

One of the boys who is about 14 years of age but preferred anonymity hopes to excel in football.

“I want to be a professional football player; that is why I dedicated my life to it. We do come out early in the morning after Subh prayer to train and in the afternoon or evening.

“We play other games with friends in the night before we retire to bed,” he said.

Asked if he attends any school he said, “We were receiving lessons before the Saudi authorities demolished our houses. We could not get the community school arrangement when we relocated to this place,” he said.

 

Saudi govt can’t do without us – Undocumented labourers 

A labourer, Yusuf Lawan, told Weekend Trust that recently, Saudi authorities intensified efforts to stop illegal immigration; hence they increased the number of arrests and deportation of those who entered or have remained in their country illegally.

“We keep changing houses so as not to be traced easily but they have strong intelligence, such that you can’t escape. They trace and arrest you or your loved one,” he lamented.

He, however, said the Saudi government was being clever by half because they relied mostly on labour from black expatriates.

“It is not that they cannot trace all of us and deport us, but who will do the work for them? It is our people they chase up and down that are doing the menial jobs.

“If you can stay in this country for a long time you will know that Saudi citizens can’t do any physical job. It is the illegal immigrants that are doing the job.

“They will take you to construction sites and factories daily to do the jobs and no one will arrest you. They get cheap labour from us but it is worth the risk. If things are working in Nigeria we wouldn’t have been here facing the humiliation,” he said.

 

‘We want to return home’

Ummu Suleym, an undocumented immigrant who left her husband and children in Nigeria, also said she lived in constant fear.

She said, “I am always at alert to avoid being arrested. We have many needs, which are greater than the fear. I came with the intention of bringing my family over, but as it is now, I am compelled to come out and sell these wares. If we don’t come out to work or sell, we will not have food to eat or settle the exorbitant rents. Once I gather a little capital I will return home to take care of my family.”

She said hundreds of women who came to Saudi Arabia through agents were working as housemaids in Makkah and Madina.

“I came through the same channel but I have paid my agent now and enjoying my freedom. Many of those who came through agents are facing serious challenges. 

“It is not easy to work for Arabs. Although some of them are nice, it is difficult to satisfy them. They always find fault in your work,” she noted.

 

Illegal migrants don’t enjoy citizenship by birth

Unlike America where the constitution grants citizenship and privileges to children of undocumented immigrants, Saudi Arabia citizenship is acquired through lineage from Saudi parents.

Sifiyanu Abubakar, an undocumented immigrant, told our correspondent that he has spent 35 years in Saudi but the government does not have any policy supporting his children.

“I am 56 years old now. I started working as a labourer in Saudi when I was 21; and it is the job I am still doing. My only regret is that my children don’t attend school because they are not documented.

“I am appealing to the Nigerian government to establish schools for us here or talk to Saudi authorities to allow our children to be educated,” he pleaded.

Weekend Trust reports that most of these families rely on irregular jobs at construction sites, warehouses, collecting scrap metals and others that do not offer a long-term prospect.

“Overtime, this kind of uncertainty has forced me to think of returning to Nigeria so that I and my children can live a dignified life, but the hardship I left behind in Daura is holding me back,” Abubakar said. 

Another undocumented woman who identified herself as Aisha said her two daughters were born in Saudi Arabia but the authorities refused to recognise them as citizens. 

But Muhammad Nasiru, an official of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) who studies at Jami’atul Madina, argued that the Saudi government had very good policies that benefitted Nigerians, Africans and the entire world.

“Millions of people from African countries have benefitted from the full scholarship of the Saudi Arabian government into various universities. In fact, they were receiving monthly allowance of 1,000 riyal back then.

“I know you will be surprised to see blacks working in their police and military forces. They are descendants of Nigeria and other African countries who fought or contributed for the development of the Kingdom.

Also, “Children abandoned by their mothers are picked up by Saudi authorities, irrespective of their race, raised and enlisted into their armed forces,” he noted.

Weekend Trust learnt that the undocumented immigrants are mostly from Nigeria, Chad, Ghana, Niger, Cameroon and other African countries.

A first-time pilgrim cannot resist a natural affinity with the Tukaris in business or social interaction as they bridge the gap of language barrier between their Arab hosts and offer quick help. They are always at the service of pilgrims, hovering around the courtyards of their hotels, sidewalks of streets and major roads to sell food and garments to them.

Imrana Hamisu, a pilgrim from Katsina, however noted, “There are good people among them but majority of them are dubious; they take advantage of pilgrims at every opportunity and disappear. 

“That is why the NAHCON intensified campaigns, alerting pilgrims not to trust anyone with their money in the name of exchange or fixing of gold/silver teeth. If not, many pilgrims, especially women, would have been dubbed this year.”

Weekend Trust notes that the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, through its assistant director of information and publicity, Fatima Sanda Usara, continually warned pilgrims not to trust anyone with their basic transport allowance. 

Usara said the warning was part of efforts by the commission to protect pilgrims from scammers and ensure their safety and wellbeing in Saudi Arabia.

Also, the commission had, with the help of Saudi authorities, reinforced the use of NUSUK cards due to increased incidents of fake pilgrims and illegal migrants during core hajj rites.

Previously, illegal migrants would arrive at the ritual sites and gain access to tents and facilities that Nigerian pilgrims paid for, and in the long run, deny the rightful owners access to them.

“Even before we left Makkah for Mina, illegal migrants had gained access to the area and occupied the tents in spite of the introduction of the NUSUK card for easy identification of real pilgrims,” the NAHCON official alleged.

The NUSUK card was introduced by the Saudi authorities to prevent illegal people from hijacking services paid for by pilgrims in their tents at Mina, Arafat and Muzzalifah 

“The 2025 hajj came with a lot of reforms that have overcome all the previous challenges and the anticipated ones. We have recorded tremendous success,” she added.