Vägrade lyda order: ”Kan inte göra så mot mitt folk”
Övereste Alenezi lever i exil i Storbritannien sedan han vägrat lyda en order från saudiska styret om att använda dödligt våld mot bybor som protesterar mot tvångsförflyttningarna till följd av klimatprojektet Neom.
– Kronprins Mohamed Bin Salman kommer att inte att låta någonting stå i vägen för byggandet av Neom. Jag blev allt mer orolig för vad jag skulle bli ombedd att göra mot mitt eget folk, berättar Alenezi.
Enligt FN och människorättsorganisation Al Qst har 47 bybor som motsatt sig vräkningarna gripits, och flera har åtalats för terrorrelaterade brott. Saudiska myndigheter har lovat kompensation till de som tvingas lämna sina hem men beloppen som betalats ut har varit betydligt lägre än utlovat, enligt Al Qst.
bakgrund
Neom
Wikipedia (en)
Neom (styled NEOM; Arabic: نيوم, romanized: Niyōm, Hejazi Arabic pronunciation: [nɪˈjo̞ːm]) is an urban area being built by Saudi Arabia in Tabuk. Launched in 2017 by crown prince Bin Salman, the site is at the northern tip of the Red Sea, due east of Egypt across the Gulf of Aqaba and south of Jordan. The total planned area of Neom is 26,500 km2 (10,200 sq mi). Multiple regions are planned, including a floating industrial complex, global trade hub, tourist resorts and a linear city powered by renewable energy sources.
Much of the city is hoped to be completed by 2039. Some experts have expressed skepticism about the ambitions of the megaproject. Neom's construction has also been criticised for environmental and human rights violations, with members of the local Howeitat tribe protesting against their forced expulsion and expatriate employees describing abusive working conditions.
The project's estimated costs exceed $1.5 trillion. On January 29, 2019; the Saudi government announced that it had established a closed joint-stock company named Neom. The company is wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund and is solely dedicated to developing the economic zone of Neom.
Saudi Arabia originally aimed to complete major parts of the project by 2020, with an expansion completed in 2025, but fell behind schedule. By July 2022, only two buildings had been constructed, and most of the project area remained bare desert. In 2024, the project had been substantially scaled back from its original plan, however this was denied by the Saudi Economic Minister, Faisal F. Alibrahim.
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