SAUDI ARABIA

Crimes committed by expatriate workers

August 18, 2017

Saudi Gazette report

SOME expatriate workers who enter the Kingdom for work turn out later to be real criminals who were involved in several illegal practices back home but somehow have gotten away with it. Some of them seem to turn to crimes because of the political and economic situations back home.

Al-Riyadh daily visited Al-Hayer Prison Facility and met with several expatriate workers who had been incarcerated for different reasons and crimes related to terrorism, drugs, weapons, security destabilization, to mention but a few.

Statistics indicate that expatriate workers account for 39 percent of total crimes in the country while 45 percent crimes related to money are committed by expatriate workers. Some of the expatriates in prison were involved in rape and sex exploitation crimes while some were in for money laundering, sorcery, alcohol, gambling and forgery.

Different nationalities

Al-Riyadh daily met a Pakistani prisoner who was involved in a murder case. After he entered the country, he worked several jobs such as mechanic, cabdriver, builder and painter for five years. One day, he had a fight with an Indian co-worker inside the car painting shop they worked in. He ended up stabbing the Indian man to death. He was sentenced to death and is now in jail.

A Filipino prisoner told Al-Riyadh daily that he also killed his roommate, who was one of his compatriots, following a fight.

“I’ve been living in the Kingdom for 18 years and I have been running away from my family back home because of many problems. I was under pressure all the time. One day I just lost it and killed my roommate during an altercation,” he said. He was sentenced to death as well.

Ahmed M, from Yemen, has been living in the Kingdom for 13 years as an illegal worker. He worked different jobs and transferred money back home through the help of his friends who have legal residence permits. He worked in a farm owned by a Saudi. One day, he had an argument with the farm owner and ended up stabbing him with a screwdriver.

Hassan F., Ethiopian, crossed the Saudi borders illegally 11 years ago and worked for different jobs. He met six illegal workers from the same country and formed a gang, which robbed houses. He was caught and sentenced to 10 years.

A Filipino prisoner said he was looking for quick money because he comes from a very poor family back home. He turned his place into a gambling den and also as a brothel. He was caught and sentenced to eight years.

Rape

A Bangladeshi prisoner was sentenced to ten years for raping a ten-year old boy. He ran away after raping the son of his employer but was caught shortly and brought before the court.

A Pakistani prisoner was sentenced to ten years for helping his friends rape boys. He helped five of his friends rape an Indian boy who was 16 years old. The Pakistani has been living in the country for years and does not want to go back to Pakistan after he serves out his prison term.

Several social studies have been conducted about the reasons and causes that have pushed these expatriate workers to commit crimes, of which some were horrible and horrendous. Some of the crimes are committed due to personal reasons.

Studies showed that most of the expatriate workers who were involved in crimes here and ended up in prison hailed from very poor families. Once they know that their employment contract has been terminated or only have a limited time in the country, they will resort to any avenue to get as much money as they can even if that means they have to rob, beg, break into homes or by any means necessary. Studies showed also that most of them are illiterate or had little education back home. Another reason is unemployment. Most of the criminals who come from different nationalities said they could not find work back home and had been jobless for a long time before landing a job in the Kingdom. The problem is some of them did not like the job they were doing when they arrived in the Kingdom and were not satisfied about the pay.

As a result, they decided to get involved in illegal activities that would enable them to earn money fast such as dealing in alcohol, forgery, and all types of thefts. A large number of them pay a lot of money back home to get a work visa to the Kingdom. When they arrive here, they discover the pay is low. They try to minimize their loss by engaging in illicit activities.

Studies suggested some solutions to reduce the number of crimes committed by expatriate workers. The first solution is launching intensive crackdown campaign on expatriate workers who violate the residency regulations. No workers should be recruited from countries that do not perform well on the Global Peace Index, which measures the relative peacefulness of states and nations. Fines and punishment should be made stricter as a way to deter criminals from different nationalities. Exchange of knowledge and experiences with countries that have gone through the same experience and have succeeded in driving down the crime rates to the minimum. There should be more governmental coordination with governments of foreign countries to ensure that only workers with clean records and good qualifications are recruited.

There should a law requiring foreign countries to pay the deportation expenses of their nationals. Recruitment companies should distribute booklets to workers who are planning to come to the Kingdom and explain to them the laws and regulations in place together with penalties and punishment. Recruitment from countries whose nationals have been involved in many crimes should be reduced to the minimum.


August 18, 2017
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