Manama: Saudi passport officers in four of the kingdom’s airports will no longer wear uniforms and will don the traditional thobe instead. The decision, to be applied starting Sunday, will initially be applied in the capital Riyadh, the Red Sea city of Jeddah, the sacred city of Medina and the Eastern Province city of Dammam, the passports department said in a statement.
Ahmad Al Luhaidan, the spokesperson for passports department, confirmed the change in the dress code. “All passport employees at the four airports will be wearing the traditional Saudi Arabian attire and black shoes,” he said. “However, they will be carrying security badges in a prominent way. The measure will be initially confined to the employees who work at the arrival and departure counters and booths before it is gradually generalised to include all other employees. They have all been informed about the change in the dress code,” he said in remarks carried by local daily Al Eqtisadiya on Wednesday.
The spokesperson said that the introduction of the thobe was motivated by “the significance of highlighting the Saudi identity.” “We feel that it is highly important that the first contact of foreigners arriving into the kingdom or the last contact with Saudi officials be with people who represent the genuine Saudi national identity.
“In the second implementation stage of the new rule, we are looking at either extending it to all airports or just limiting it to the international airports in the kingdom,” he said. In May 2012, Saudi Arabia introduced rules that required government ministries and departments as well as private companies to use Hijri dates (the Islamic Calendar) and the Arabic language in their official dealings. The move was attributed to the determination to highlight the country’s national identity.
