Ex-Saudi intelligence officer Col. Rabih Alenezi reportedly told the BBC he was ordered to evict tribal villagers in the Tabuk Province where NEOM’s smart city The Line is currently under construction.

Alenezi told the news organisation one villager was shot and killed for protesting eviction.

Coming as NEOM’s flagship project, The Line was planned to be a 200m wide, 170km long car-free city. However, the city is expected to reach just a mile and a half in length by 2030.

The NEOM mega-project is due to accommodate 26,000km2 of desert and coastline beside the Red Sea with multiple regions planned to include tourist resorts, The Line, and the “reimagined” industrial city of Oxagon – where the world’s largest green hydrogen plant is being constructed.

NEOM came at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 roadmap for economic diversification, global engagement and “enhanced quality of life.”

Previously described as a “blank canvas” by Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salam, the Saudi Government itself admitted 6,000 people had been moved on from the area – although human rights group ALQST estimate the figure to be higher.

The BBC report explained Alenezi, now in UK exile, said he was given a clearance order for al-Khuraybah, 4.5km to the south of The Line, where villages were mostly inhabited by the Huwaitat tribe.

Given in April 2020, he said the order stated the Huwaitat had “many rebels” and “whoever continues to resist [eviction] should be killed, so it licensed the use of lethal force against whoever stayed in their home,” according to the BBC.

The BBC said it was not able to independently verify Alenezi’s claims about lethal force.

A 2023 report by ALQST said in March 2020, Saudi authorities sent Special Forces, sometimes in groups of over 40 vehicles to raid the homes of those resisting eviction.

“At least 20 residents were arrested, some of whom, according to sources, were arrested for coming to the defence of a kidnapped child,” the report said.

A petition against the eviction was signed by 174 members of Huwaitat tribe, ALQST said.

Despite being 90km to al-Khuraybah’s south, the NEOM Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC) – made up of a three-way venture between ACWA Power, Air Products and NEOM which owned by the Saudi Government’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – is currently constructing its 2.2GW green hydrogen plant.

Having completed financial close on the plant at a total investment of $8.4bn last May (2023), NGCH has been steadily progressing with the facility’s construction.

Expected to start up in 2026, Air Products signed an exclusive 30-year offtake agreement for the entirety of the green ammonia produced by the plant at a value of $6.7bn.

H2 View has contacted NGHC, Air Products, ACWA Power and NEOM for comment on the claims.