The Saudi people are fleeing to escape the policies of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) after the kingdom has become a large prison.
Under the directions of the Crown Prince, the General Directorate of Passports raised the passport renewal fees for 5 years to 600 riyals instead of 300 riyals. The renewal fee for 10 years will be 1,000 riyals instead of 600 riyals.
According to the sources, MBS directed the State Security Service to tighten investigations on those willing to obtain the passport.
Many Saudis have complained about their inability to pay rent for their homes due to the significant increase in rents, noting that “rents increase by up to 60%.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has won a bid to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games at a planned mountain resort in the Gulf Arab state’s $500bn (£440bn) flagship Neom project, The Washington Post reported.
The Trojena development is expected to be completed in 2026 and will offer outdoor skiing, a man-made freshwater lake, and a nature reserve, according to the project’s website.
While the area is one of the few locations in the desert kingdom that receives snow, it’s unclear whether there would be enough to support winter sports activities on the scale Saudi Arabia envisions. Around 700,000 tourists are predicted to visit each year once the project is completed in 2026.
The Middle East Eye has called into question the feasibility of Neom. The deadline for the city’s completion is set for 2025, but there is little evidence on the ground of building progress having been made.
The project has already been stymied by delays and hit by an exodus of employees, many of them Western consultants, who have complained about Saudi executives’ unreachable demands, according to MEE.
Former employees have said Neom CEO Nadhmi al-Nasr has a short temper and often issues threats to workers.
MEE quoted him as saying that he would “pull out a gun and start shooting if he wasn’t told who was to blame” for two e-sports companies cancelling a partnership with NEOM over human rights concerns, according to two witnesses. Al-Nasr disputed the claims.
Some have also challenged Neom’s status as a carbon-neutral, environmentally friendly futuristic city. The construction of Trojena for example would require “blowing up large portions of the landscape” to build an artificial lake in the centre of the resort, according to Bloomberg.
According to the report, Saudi Arabia is putting sports at the centre of its economic diversification plan. The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, controlled by the crown prince, is shaking up the world of professional golf with its own league, drawing in Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.
Western golfers have come under fire from rights groups for participating in the league, given allegations of human rights abuses inside the kingdom.
