It is now going on for three and a half years since the takeover of Newcastle United by the Saudi PIF, and NE Bylines has been regularly reviewing what life is like in that Middle Eastern kingdom and what has happened there since that takeover in October 2021. There are some who would claim that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a place where human rights are not respected and that the regime is a murderous regime, which starts illegal wars and responsible for many human rights abuses.
But is all that really true? Let’s see what has been happening and look at the hard evidence. How has Saudi Arabia been reported in recent weeks?
Parts 1-17 of this survey have covered the period from 7th October 2021 to the end of January this year. So, what has been happening regarding Saudi Arabia in February 2025?
10,000 expats deported in Saudi Arabia
It was reported on 1st February that the Saudi Ministry of Interior had announced that the authorities had deported 10,000 expats over the previous week as part of a nationwide crackdown on residency, labour, and border violations. It was noted that in what were described as “joint field operations conducted across the kingdom”, the authorities had apprehended more than 21,000 violators, including nearly 14,000 for residency infractions, 4,600 for border security violations, and more than 3,000 for labour law breaches.
The ministry was also said to have reported that an additional 27,000 individuals had been referred to their respective diplomatic missions to obtain travel documents, while 2,300 others were in the process of finalising travel arrangements for deportation. It was further reported that, “during the operations, security forces detained 1,477 individuals attempting to cross into Saudi Arabia illegally. Of these, 41% were Yemeni nationals, 55% were Ethiopians, and 4% were from other nationalities. Another 90 people were arrested while attempting to exit the country unlawfully”.
Authorities were also said to have apprehended 18 individuals accused of harbouring, transporting, or employing undocumented expats, and had warned that those found guilty of facilitating illegal residency face “severe penalties, including up to 15 years in prison, fines of up to 1 million Saudi riyals, and confiscation of vehicles or properties used to aid violators”.
UN removes criticism of the Saudi government from the official transcript of a key UN conference
On 6th February, it was reported in the Middle East Eye that Human Rights Watch was reporting that the UN had removed criticism of the Saudi government from the official transcript of a key UN conference and threatened to eject a Saudi researcher from the gathering held in Riyadh in December. The story went on to say: “The organisation described the fallout from the UN Internet Governance Forum (UN IGF) as “the latest example” of a repressive government hosting a major UN conference which saw civil society representatives censored and intimidated”.
Deborah Brown, HRW’s deputy technology, rights and investigations director, was quoted a s saying: “The UN and its member states should put an end to a climate of intimidation and censorship toward diplomats, journalists, human rights advocates, and other civil society representatives at UN conferences. Restricting participants’ ability to speak freely about internet policy issues, including issues relevant in the host country, undermines the IGF’s purpose.”
Campaigners have welcomed the release of Saudi PhD student Salma al-Shehab
On 10th February, it was reported in the Guardian that campaigners had welcomed the release of Saudi PhD student Salma al-Shehab who had been sentenced to 34 years in prison for posting tweets in support of women’s rights.
It was further noted that Salma al-Shehab, 36, was understood to have left the prison in Saudi Arabia where she was being held and has been reunited with her two young children.
Lina al-Hathloul, head of monitoring and advocacy at the Europe-based Saudi rights group ALQST was reported as saying: “It is fantastic news. She has not seen her children during her whole four years of imprisonment.”
Al-Shehab had been arrested while on holiday in Saudi Arabia in January 2021 and campaigners have said that she was kept in solitary confinement for more than nine months before being brought before Saudi Arabia’s specialised criminal court.
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
On 17th February, it was reported in Architects Journal that Hanan Khashoggi, the widow of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, had called on British architects working in Saudi Arabia – including Norman Foster – to raise her husband’s killing with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Hanan was reported as saying that her husband’s murder remains unsolved and pleaded with UK architects to raise the case with the country’s ruler. Speaking directly to the profession, she said: “I tell the architects from the UK: I’m proud that you are helping Saudi Arabia to develop, and this is what Jamal wanted, but please speak to them [Saudi Arabia’s ruling royal family] and remind them there is unfinished business here, which is Jamal.”
It was further noted that Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist and legal resident of the United States, who had been highly critical of Prince Mohammed, had been killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. It was said that: “while US intelligence concluded that he was murdered on the orders of Prince Mohammed, Saudi officials claimed the journalist was killed in a ‘rogue operation’ by a team of agents sent to persuade him to return to the kingdom”.
Human rights activists meet with Newcastle’s council leader to demand stronger action against alleged ‘sportswashing’
It was reported in the Chronicle on 19th February that leading human rights activists had met with Newcastle’s council leader to demand stronger action against alleged ‘sportswashing’ by Saudi Arabia.
The delegation of campaigners, which was said to include Saudi citizens whose family members have been jailed in the Gulf state, had met with Newcastle City Council leader Karen Kilgour on Tuesday afternoon 18th February.
It was further reported that: “political leaders in the North East have come under pressure over the region’s growing links to Saudi Arabia since the takeover of Newcastle United in 2021 by a consortium led by the nation’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which sparked accusations that the football club was being used to deflect attention from the country’s human rights record. City officials hailed Newcastle as the “gateway to Saudi” during a major UK trade mission last year to the Middle East state, which reportedly executed more than 300 people in 2024, while North East mayor Kim McGuinness later joined Sir Keir Starmer on a trip to Riyadh in December for talks on energy projects and other potential investment”
The group visiting Tyneside on Tuesday was said to include activist Fouz al-Otaibi, sister of fitness instructor and women’s rights activist Manahel whose 11-year prison sentence has been condemned by human rights groups and who Amnesty International says has been “forcibly disappeared”. The Chronicle also noted that others present were, “Lina al-Hathloul, whose sister Loujain was prominent in the campaign to lift a ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia and was later jailed under counter-terrorism laws, Human Rights Watch researcher Joey Shea, Saudi activist Yahya Assiri, and ALQST executive director Julia Legner”.
President Trump had spoken at an investment conference in Miami sponsored by Saudi government entities
On 25th February, it was reported by CBS that President Trump had spoken at an investment conference in Miami sponsored by Saudi government entities, making an address that transpired as the Trump Organisation “seeks to expand its real estate empire in Saudi Arabia and as the president looks to strengthen ties with the Middle East partner”.
It was also noted that the president’s speech came “a day after the U.S. and Russia held talks in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on how to end the war in Ukraine, and the administration is seeking Saudi Arabia’s cooperation on a range of issues, including the war in Gaza. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman vowed to invest $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years in a phone call with Mr. Trump shortly after he took office in January”.
CBS also raised questions about why exactly Trump had made the address, noting that, “led by the crown prince, the Saudi Public Investment Fund reportedly invested $2 billion in Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner’s private equity firm after Mr. Trump left the White House in 2021. The fund is also a major backer of LIV Golf, which has held several tournaments at Trump golf courses”. CBS considered that serious questions are raised about why Trump delivered the speech, given the Trump family businesses’ ties with the Saudis, and “whether the president’s business interests might influence how he manages the relationship with the nation’s authoritarian leadership”.
Saudi Arabia’s forces accused of using indiscriminate force against migrants on their borders
On 28th February it was reported in the Guardian that Saudi Arabia’s forces were being accused of using indiscriminate force against migrants on their borders. There were multiple accounts of women being raped and reports of deaths and injuries.
Ethiopian migrants attempting to cross from neighbouring Yemen between 2019 and 2024 had given accounts to the Guardian of seeing bodies rotting in the border area and coming under machine gun fire.
“I personally saw three people die next to me,” One Ethiopian, who attempted to cross at night into Saudi’s Najran province with dozens of others in 2022 was reported as saying: “I personally saw three people die next to me,”. “One of my legs was blown away by the Saudi fire. There were body parts of the injured and the dead all around me.”
Another migrant alleged witnessing the rape of three Ethiopian women by men in Saudi border guard uniforms while a third migrant talked of sustaining shrapnel wounds to his leg and back. Others described sexual assault and beatings.
It was also reported that another man, who had attempted to cross in January 2023, had said: “The journey was particularly horrifying. Along the way, we encountered many decomposing bodies that had been eaten by animals. The border guards continued to fire at us as we walked through treacherous terrain.”
Conclusion
So, there is evidence about what was happening concerning Saudi Arabia in February 2025. Are those who accuse the Saudi regime of having a bad human rights record being fair? What should we say and what should we do today and, in the future, in order to respond to the human rights record of the Saudi regime?
Perhaps we ought to remember the words of Martin Luther King Jr., who visited Newcastle on 13th November 1967, to receive an honorary degree at Newcastle University. In a sermon in 1959, King noted that, “we must learn that the passive acceptance of an unjust system is to cooperate with that system, and thereby become a participant in its evil. Non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.”
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