MOVE OR DIE

Saudi Soldiers Got ‘OK’ to Shoot Villagers to Make Way for Planned City

Thousands of people were forcefully evicted from the Neom region to make way for a high-tech city.

Saudi forces have razed villages and forced as many as 6,000 people out of their homes to make way for the kingdom’s planned city, shooting anyone who tried to resist eviction. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has described has the area as a “blank canvas,” perfect for realizing Saudi Arabia’s vision of a planned high-tech city called The Line, but a BBC investigation found that the homes, schools, and hospitals of three villages were completely erased from the map in the last five years. Rabih Alenezi, a Saudi ex-intelligence officer, recalled the order to clear villagers advised that “whoever continues to resist [eviction] should be killed, so it licensed the use of lethal force against whoever stayed in their home.” When the soldiers came knocking on Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti’s door, the villager resisted and was fatally shot by Saudi authorities the next day—an incident the Saudi government says was in self-defense, claiming al-Huwaiti opened fire on its agents, but which the UN and human rights organizations have denounced.