Over 10 m Saudis live below poverty line

A Saudi intellectual warned more than 10 million Saudi civilians live below poverty line. Tawfik el-Seif said that more than 10 million of Saudi nationals earn lesser than their basic needs and routine expenditures, Al-Alam reported. According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, over three million people are in dire need of government aids because of their poverty, el-Seif said. He urged the Saudi regime to help the poor people, noting that the Saudi society enjoys enough wealth to tackle poverty. Saudi activists have called on Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to increase the incomes of all public employees, pensioners and students, and also stabilize prices of basic goods. Responding to the government’s claim who called the demand as a seditious move, el-Seif mentioned they resist understanding people’s problems; therefore, they should apologize for the negligence. The people who want reform in Saudi Arabia, are not making seditious acts, but they are civilians who call on the government to respect people’s rights, he added. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Million-Man March Movement called on people to hold mass rallies in October throughout the kingdom. Since February 2011, protesters have held demonstrations on an almost regular basis in Saudi Arabia, mainly in Qatif and Awamiyah, primarily calling for the release of all political prisoners, freedom of expression and assembly, and an end to widespread discrimination. According to Saudi activists, most of the detained political thinkers are being held by the government without trial or legitimate charges and have been arrested for merely looking suspicious.