Arab News
JEDDAH, Jan 15: Jeddah’s southern Al-Nuzla district is home to many illegal residents. It is also an area with some of the highest rates of criminal activity and has caused an emigration of Saudis and legal residents from the area, according to a recent report in Al-Watan.
According to the newspaper, citing the district’s ombudsman, approximately 5,000 incidents of criminal activity are reported each month, ranging from drug-related crimes to alcohol production and distribution to prostitution to theft, violent crime and weapons possession.
The district is zoned randomly, with warehouses next to residential buildings, often built without any licenses or permits. Many of the streets are narrow, unpaved and dusty — the perfect escape route for criminals fleeing the police.
Al-Nuzla resident Abdul Wahab Salim Abu-Zaid says the old days of his neighborhood are gone. “I’ve been living here for 54 years,” he said. “People used to come here for picnics and enjoy gathering in the residential areas. There were only about 2,000 people living here at the time. People were suspicious of strangers and we had strong ties, like a family with the same customs and traditions. The ombudsman was in charge of solving any problem and resolving any conflicts. Now the area is teeming with illegals.”
Abu-Zaid says the majority of his friends and family have left the district seeking refuge in newer, safer neighborhoods that have been constructed to the north of the rapidly expanding city. He also says water problems, road conditions and the shortage of clinics is exacerbating the exodus.
Abdullah Al-Jabailan, an area merchant, says his shop was once robbed twice in one day. “The district serves as a safe area for stealing purses and mobile phones,” he said. “Drug dealers are fearlessly selling their products openly in the street in the middle of the day. And if they have to run, they simply melt into the zigzagging lanes of the neighborhood.”
Like most native sons and daughters of the district, Al-Jabailan blames the problems on illegal immigrants, and singles out people from certain African countries. Al-Nuzla is home to a large population of Africans, many of whom are residing in the Kingdom illegally, either as undocumented migrants or “overstayers,” pilgrims who came legally for Umrah or Haj and overstayed their visas.
According to Al-Nuzla district ombudsman Ahmad ibn Saeed, only about 20 percent of the approximately 50,000 residents in the neighborhood are Saudi. Forty percent are Africans of various nationalities while the rest, he says, are Arab or Asian expatriates. As the number of local residents leave and are replaced by illegal immigrants, the crime rate has skyrocketed, he says.
Muhammad Sulaiman, an Al-Nuzla homeowner, said that all his relatives have left the district. He said the park near his home is a popular venue for the black market in drugs and stolen goods. “I have seen some of these guys fighting with different kind of weapons, including guns,” he said. “I’ve seen blood in that park. I recall that city authorities closed down a house of prostitution nearby.”
Abdullah Al-Suraif, another resident, said the same thing about the park. “These guys are quick about unloading their contraband,” he said. “They want to get rid of the evidence fast.”
Al-Suraif says he won’t even let his children out of the house to play during the day in their own neighborhood, preferring to take them to the Jeddah’s Corniche when he can. Like others, Al-Suraif says the crooks have it easy because they always have an escape route. “They can easily vanish from the scene if they have to,” he said.
Ombudsman Saeed admitted that drug gangs are a problem. He singled out Manfaha Street as a particular hotbed of drugs and alcohol dealing. He also laments the fact that the district has only one hospital.
“One day the police raided a building but couldn’t find anyone,” he said. “The air-conditioners were running. They used cell phones and spotters to warn each other.”
Saeed says he feels overwhelmed by the problem. “I have tried every possible way to stop these acts, but I feel like I’m on my own down here,” he said.
The ombudsman is also quick to point out that it’s not just expatriates and illegal immigrants who are the problem. “Saudis as well as non-Saudis of both genders come to this location to buy and sell different drugs late at night,” he said.