Saudi Arabia to establish more cemeteries for non-Muslims

Riyadh: The authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) plans to establish more cemeteries for non-Muslims in order to facilitate the speedy procedures for burying the dead, local media reported.

In this regard, the Saudi Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing has issued an instruction to the mayors of various governorates to find more places to build cemeteries for non-Muslims.

This will make the posthumous rituals of those who die in Saudi easier. Currently, Kingdom has limited burial facilities for non-Muslims.

According to Arabic daily Okaz, ministry has established specifications for these cemeteries that differ from those designated for Muslims.

To this end, efforts include preparing cemeteries, and granting the family of the deceased the possibility of obtaining an immediate electronic death certificate instead of certificates issued by ministry of health hospitals.

Until 2012, the Saudi authorities refused to bury non-Muslims on their lands, and there were no cemeteries for non-Muslims on Saudi lands, with the exception of a single cemetery in the city of Jeddah known as the Khawajat cemetery, the Christian cemetery, which dates back to about 500 years ago.

In 2012, for the first time in its history, the Saudi authorities allowed burying non-Muslims in a Christian cemetery in Jeddah in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia.

This step comes after a series of human rights criticisms against Saudi Arabia, which was deporting the bodies of dead non-Muslims outside the country.