statistics on poverty in the kingdom are not available through the un resources because the saudi government does not issue any. the saudi state discourages calling attention to or complaining about poverty. in december 2011, the saudi interior ministry arrested three reporters and held them for almost two weeks for questioning after they uploaded a video on the topic to youtube. authors of the video claim that 22 percent of saudis may be considered poor (2009). observers researching the issue prefer to stay anonymous because of the risk of being arrested.