Mafi Iqama, mushkila

By Rolo B. Cena
Arabian Diaries
Dumaguete Star Informer
11 October 2009

“Mafi” means “without”; “iqama” means “Residence Permit”; and “mushkila” means “problem”. Therefore, “mafi Iqama, mushkila!” means “without national ID, problem.” Linguists will always be displeased with the way most of Arabs, especially those with local education, assassinate grammatically the English language.

Anyway, this is not about the proposed National ID for all Filipinos; this is about the national IDs for all Filipinos living and working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Effectively, when an expatriate, whether Filipinos or not, upon reaching any part of the Kingdom is applied for an “Iqama” by his or her employer. As a rule, wherever you go, you should bring along with you your Iqama as this serves as your passport in the Kingdom. Your local passport then is surrendered to the employers, practically, to the Administration or HR Department, in the case of those working in companies or establishments, or, to the Saudi couple, in the case of domestic helpers.

Our lawn tennis team had a scheduled practice game at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUP) in Dhahran. The University is actually located in the same vicinity where Saudi Aramco compound is situated. Having said that, I would like to put an emphasis that security measure is so stringent; inspection of vehicles coming in and out of the compound is rigorous.

Our coach, a Born Again pastor, picked me up from my accommodation as we are neighbors. We passed by four others in various locations. By 4:00 in the afternoon, we were at the first gate of KFUPM. Five cars were ahead of us; we were the last in the row. The University police single-handedly picked us up and ordered to park at the shoulder. This frail, lanky officer demanded for all our Iqamas. Mine was at the trunk inside my sports bag so I hurriedly went out of the car, opened the trunk and took my Iqama. In Arabic Language, he was babbling I don’t understand but when I jabbered “mafi malom Arabic” (I don’t know Arabic Language), he instantaneously stopped.

Call it a twist of fate but suddenly, I heard this officer said: “Mafi Iqama? Mushkila!” (Without iqama? Problem!).

In frenzied staccato, I raised my voice at the team mates: “What is the problem?” All of them responded: “Bem did not bring his (temporary) Iqama.” In soft, gentle voice I whispered: “mushkila!”

Bem (this is his real nickname and he gave me the permission to use this in my column), a twenty-eight-year old accountant from Cagayan de Oro, a city about four-hour-sea travel from the famed Camiguin Island and is on a singular contract arrived exactly a week before this incident. As young as he is in the Kingdom, this I believe would gave him a stern warning to be extremely careful about handling travel documents.

Precisely by 4:30, we were all stunned when a police car parked alongside ours and picked Bem up and ferried him to Dharan Police Station. This time, communication was practically impossible because his mobile phone battery was not working. All he got was his personal belongings in his back-pack, and nothing more. I can recall the fear in Bem’s dark-skinned, round face with innocence.

Speculations floated in our curious and traumatized minds. Bem would suffer from this, we thought. Stories have been told about sexual abuses made to Filipinos inside prison cells. Yes, as in Filipino males sexually abused by Saudi male species. Don’t ask me how; this is strictly for adults’ minds only! But this is true as confessed by some victims: Filipino men are victims of rape and not women.

Usually, when an expat is brought to the police on a weekend (Thursday or Friday) for any specific violation of law or commission of a crime, he could be freed on a Saturday or Sunday or days after, depending on the gravity of the infraction. Others of course stay in the cell for a week or months or even years.

Our coach decided to bring us to the tennis court of the University so we can start playing but I objected the move and enforced the idea of procuring the temporary Iqama from Bem’s accommodation, bring it to the Police and negotiate for the release of Bem.

It was already 5:30 when we presented the temporary Iqama to the police officers on duty. However, since it was prayer time (Salah) for them, we were told to wait for the
Station Commander after “salah”. (Salah actually is equivalent to the catholic mass celebrated five times a day from early dawn to evening.)

Our pastor coach called several of his Saudi bosses because by practice, no expat can take out an expat from Police custody unless he is accompanied by a Saudi employer or national. Sensing that his calls yielded no favorable results, I called our Government Relations Officer (GRO; a Saudi National) and negotiated to use the name of his brother who is a General of the Police just to get rid of the situation. Our GRO instructed me to go directly to the Station Commander and to call him once I was inside the commander’s office.

Along with our pastor coach, we scurried once again to the office of the Commander and re-negotiated. I was about to call our GRO when the commander was looking at me from “crown to keel” that gave me the sign not to make a call. To break the ice, I narrated that the prisoner was just a week today in the kingdom; that he just forgot to bring his Iqama with him; that we were in the area just to play lawn tennis in the University court and that it would never happen again. The commander’s stern gaze made me quiver; nonetheless, I continued delivering my speech until he said: “kalas, he can go. (“Kalas” means “done” or “finish”).

A deep sigh bolted the office and I gave the Commander a smile. In one, simple Arabic word I complimented him by saying “shokran” (Thank you) and we bid goodbye.

Ergo, our team mate Bem, a violator in the eyes of the Saudi Laws, was released. He was shocked by the fast-paced incident but have nothing more to do than to accept the fate by heart, learn from it and enjoy his two-year stay in the “Land of Contrast”.

Yes, Iqama, just like Qatar’s “pataka” or any similar IDs in other countries have to be handled professionally and without reservation. Beware!

What a day if you go out and say: “Mafi mushkila!”

After all, Saudi Arabia is still the best place to work with in terms of economic returns. Believe me!