Heart and Home

I was 9 years old when I discovered that Saudi Arabia, where I had lived since birth, wasn’t a place where I’d be allowed to stay. My mother and father were born in Eritrea and Ethiopia, respectively, and they met in Sudan over thirty years ago. Later, they moved to Riyadh, where my siblings and I were born. My father worked as an engineer and an architect, my mother as a registered nurse.

Saudi Arabia has strict naturalization laws. Foreign workers are granted iqamas, or residency permits, but these are temporary. …