Abdulrahman
Al-Asheikh
If the Ministry of Labor is serious about regulating the labor market, it needs to urgently take the following steps to stop the chaos caused by expatriate workers.
One of the important things it should do is to ban newspaper job adverts for housemaids and drivers. The number of these announcements has lately increased. The adverts are usually placed by people who are looking for maids, drivers and other similar types of domestic workers. These adverts in newspapers and social media websites are part of a thriving black market.
I have never seen such a large number of adverts in any other country. Some people are taking advantage of the system by attempting to circumvent our residency laws. Many have fallen victim to these scams. The concerned authorities, with the Ministry of Labor at the forefront, should closely monitor these adverts and see who is behind them and who places such a large number of them in our newspapers. I am sure this is organized and that both Saudis and expatriates are involved.
I have often seen two adverts for maids carrying the same phone number. The first one says there is a maid available and the other one says a maid is needed. Both appear on the same page, which is strange.
Some Saudis recruit Asian drivers from abroad and pay SR2,000 in visa fees. When the driver arrives in the Kingdom, they post adverts in newspapers and say they want to release the driver to another Saudi sponsor and charge SR15,000.
The problem is that they engage in these activities several times in order to earn money.
I called several phones numbers that appeared in adverts on social media websites. The persons who answered were expatriate workers who are engaging in this illegal business in broad daylight.
It is important that the ministry and other concerned authorities crack down on the people whose phone numbers appear in such adverts. The ministry should also run checks on Saudis who recruit drivers and maids every month and then transfer the sponsorship to other Saudis.
In my opinion, the most efficient solution is to lay down strict measures for sponsorship transfers to curb frequent transfers.
