Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Mr. Noor (L) and his brother Mr. Mohammed (R). (File photo)
If it weren’t for his dark skin, psychological problems and halting speech, Waleed Noor, a 25-year-old national of Saudi Arabia, would not have been put under detention by authorities, and then deported to Nigeria.
Saudi authorities mistakenly thought that Mr. Noor was African and was violating the country’s residency laws.
“My brother was sent to Nigeria even though he is of full Saudi origin,” Mr. Noor’s brother, Mohammed, told Al Arabiya.
Mr. Noor’s family spent time and effort anxiously searching for him. Because of his illness and speech impairment, they were worried he would be unable to survive alone.
Mr. Noor described how five years ago, his brother Waleed was diagnosed with schizophrenia, which left him disorientated at times and unable to respond when asked a question.
“We admitted him to several hospitals until his condition stabilized, but six months later his condition deteriorated again,” Mr. Noor said.
One night, Mr. Noor received a call from his mother who said that Waleed did not come home from an outing with friends.
The family searched for 21 days until a friend called and said that Waleed was seen in the immigration office in Jeddah.
Two months later, he disappeared again. The family went straight to the immigration office again in search of him, but his name was not found. They then saw his picture amongst those who were deported.
An officer informed them that Waleed had been arrested and then deported to Lagos in Nigeria.
The family turned to the director of Jeddah’s deportation, Colonel Hussein Al-Harthy, and demanded Waleed’s safe return.
Mr. Noor went immediately to the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in Saudi Arabia to plead his brother’s case and dispute his exile. He also went to the Interior Minister, Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and to Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal. He submitted petitions to them on behalf of his brother.
Following this, Mr. Noor then went directly to the headquarters of the Ministry of Interior Affairs and met with Prince Ahmad bin Abdul Aziz and appealed his case.
He then decided he had to fly to Nigeria to track his brother down.
After visiting the Saudi consulate in Lagos, he found out about a neighborhood in Kano, an industrial city in northern Nigeria, that was home to deported prisoners from Saudi Arabia. Kano was about 1,000 kilometers away from Lagos. Still, he could not find Waleed.
Mr. Noor turned to the media. He set up a radio campaign and advertised his brother’s disappearance for three days. On the last day, an individual came to the radio headquarters, saying they saw someone that matched Waleed’s description in the village of Rengham, 120 kilometers away from Kano.
Mr. Noor headed to the Rengham and was met with a horrific sight.
Waleed looked weak and was wearing old, dirty clothes. He was sitting under a tree and looked like he had not had anything to eat or drink for days.
Mr. Noor took his brother to a psychiatric hospital in Kaduna, and stayed by his side for 10 days until Waleed was fit enough to travel.
When both brothers returned to Saudi Arabia, Al Arabiya contacted Waleed to hear of his ordeal.
“I was walking in a street and all of a sudden I was arrested by the police,” Waleed said.
“I felt that I had lost consciousness and only regained it when I was lost wandering in a street in a different country,” he said.
(Eman El-Shenawi of Al Arabiya can be reached at: eman.elshenawi@mbc.net. Ikran Al-Yacoub, also of Al Arabiya, can be reached at: ikram.yacoub@mbc.net)
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