After the hajj: Mecca residents grow hostile to changes in the holy city

His story is typical of many Meccan families: people whose livelihoods have long depended on the hajj economy but who, subjected to the new era of Meccas expansion, are growing increasingly resentful.

According to Jawaher al-Sudairy, a Saudi academic at Harvards Kennedy School, Meccas residents have had to continually adjust their income, employment and way of life to adapt to a city that is increasingly trying to erase them.

And this attempt to [change] the city is creating hostility, Jawaher says. As neighbourhoods are razed, informal economies that kept entire communities alive be they vegetable sellers, cobblers or informal tour guides are being jeopardised.

More and more residents are facing challenges to participate in the hajj economy, and having to compete with corporations: hotels replacing private homes, fast-food chains replacing food stalls in once-bustling street markets.

Some [Meccans] are upset that theyve lost what some would call their monopoly to another corporate monopoly, says al-Sudairy, who has interviewed dozens of residents in recent years and researches the socioeconomic impacts of development on Meccas communities.

The only guaranteed high-income source is for those families who own property. Meccan families who now live outside the city have long rented out their homes to migrant pilgrims.

When they rent during hajj season, the income they get can then sustain them for the rest of the year, says al-Sudairy. This is not an exaggeration.

But with one square metre of land in the area surrounding the Grand Mosque now valued at 100,000, many have sold property either to the government, or to real estate developers thus severing their historic ties with the city.

This has meant the greater proportion of the city is now owned by commercial real estate developers, and driven by private-sector interests.

It is an inherent tension, accentuated by the countrys increased financial woes, that Mecca must prioritise its migrant pilgrims over its residents, even though both populations are inextricably intertwined.

Perhaps most vulnerable of all are the citys immigrant communities.

Mecca has historically been a beacon for Muslim immigrants. According to al-Sudairy, 45% of Meccas current population are non-Saudi immigrants. This includes second- and third-generation immigrants who are not entitled to Saudi citizenship.

Some are older and more established communities, like the Burmese who number roughly 250,000. Others, like the Nigerian and south Asian communities, are newer and comprise of seasonal workers employed in the construction and service sectors.

In many ways the Burmese are the success story in Mecca, al-Sudairy says. Though insular, Meccas Burmese are also highly organised. Unlike other immigrant groups, the Burmese have come to Saudi Arabia in waves since 1948 to claim political asylum. As such, many were granted the right to permanent residency in 2015 a first for the Saudi Kingdom.

But other migrant groups arent usually as lucky.

Many undocumented migrants live in Mecca, many of whom have overstayed their hajj visas. Some are inspired by the sanctity of the city, others come to earn a living and yet others, elderly Muslims, go there to die.

There is no official data, but by and large, the government allows them to persist and turns a blind eye, according to al-Sudairy.

Politically, to force Muslims to leave Mecca just doesnt look right, she says. Every Muslim feels Mecca is a second home.

But they are still left vulnerable.

With the city deliberately turning the city centre over to commercial enterprise, residents are being pushed to the physical margins. According to the 2011 city master plan, residents were all to be relegated to an area called Mecca gate, a 16 sq km neighbourhood, with plans for affordable housing.

But in practice, once their homes are torn down and they receive meagre compensation if any at all, Meccans have been moving to neighbouring villages an hour away from their city, where they have gone on to build new slums.

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