Saudi- Charity alleges villagers paid cash for citizenship

(MENAFN- Arab News) The head of a leading charity has accused people living in a poor community in Makkah province of gaining citizenship illegally.Gubaish bin Saleh chairman of the Al-Birr Charity Society's board in Al-Addam province has called on the Makkah governorate to investigate the situation in Al-Jouaini village according to a recent report in a local publication.Bin Saleh claimed he has documentation to prove that some of the people living in the village paid cash to corrupt officials 20 years ago to obtain citizenship.He said the village only had five families living there two decades ago. It now has 4000 families bringing the population to 10000 individuals he claimed.He said officials from several agencies had visited the area four years ago to check the living conditions of the residents. However the officials had failed to live up to their promises to help and never returned.Bin Saleh said he had been contacted by the Ministry of Social Affairs after a video was posted on social media sites highlighting the poor living conditions of the residents.'I personally confirmed with the ministry that the video was authentic. I said the families in the video were not Saudis and that their numbers have been growing placing a burden on the charity. The charity has a tight budget and cannot help them' he said.He said the video was taken by some youth activists who distributed 200 food baskets to the villagers who were living in harsh and difficult conditions.