Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi

 

A report in this newspaper stated that 400,000 Bangladeshis are in danger of being deported according to the Embassy of Bangladesh in Riyadh. The embassy demanded that the amnesty period be extended because it has not been able to finish the procedures for rectifying the residential status of Bangladeshi citizens according to the rules of the Kingdom. The embassy said that in the next few weeks a large number of illegal Bangladeshi residents will apply to correct their status.



According to Dr. Muhammad Imdadul Haq, labor councilor at the embassy,  it is impossible to deal with such a large number of people in the few days remaining in the amnesty period. He told Al Eqtisadiah Arabic daily that the Saudi government will deport all illegals who fail to rectify their status. The government said that they would be guilty of violating the residential laws of the country if they do not immediately go to the embassy to correct their status. He pointed out that 1.5 million Bangladeshis work in the Kingdom and that since last May, the embassy has managed to rectify the status of 350,000 workers and that 250,000 workers were granted a final exit visa after failing to correct their residential status.



Raed Al-Aqili, vice president of the construction committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, blamed the Ministry of Labor for the slow progress in the rectification of  the status of  illegal laborers in the construction sector. He said that only 20 percent of workers in this sector have managed to rectify their status in the past seven months. He said that at the speed at which the labor ministry is processing applications, it will take more than three years to correct the status of construction workers. This will result in serious problems for construction companies, especially with the absence of recruitment companies that are able to supply construction workers on an hourly or daily basis. He said that most contracting companies have been unable to rectify the residential status of their workers because of the complex and time-consuming procedures involved.



There are so many others complaining about the same problem that it almost seems as if the ministry does not want to rectify the status of illegal residents or that it is waiting for the amnesty period to end so it can impose fines on companies, contractors and individual workers. The ministry thinks that by doing this, they will reduce the number of Saudis who are unemployed. 



However, even Saudis who want to rectify the visa status of their drivers and domestic help have suffered. Those who want to correct the residential status of a driver or a housemaid are facing a very difficult time.  A relative of mine told me that he wanted to rectify the status of his housemaid. He was told to go to the passport department in Abruq Al-Rughama. He went there for three consecutive days but was unable to get a number so that he could stand in line to present his housemaid's papers.

 

Many others like him are suffering from the extreme overcrowding at that place and the rough treatment they receive there. There are no arrangements that guarantee that a person can finish the paperwork and procedures within one, two or even three days. Those who resort to the "moakebs", or government facilitators, to deal with the paperwork are charged a large amount of money. Moakebs are now charging between SR5,000 to SR7,000 and maybe more to process papers and complete procedures. It is clear that this is a problem that needs to be addressed. No one denies or disagrees with the Ministry of Labor about the importance of rectifying the residential and work status of illegal expatriates in the Kingdom. However, the way the ministry has dealt with the problem from the beginning has been neither logical nor correct. Rectifying the mistakes in the expatriate labor market that have accumulated for decades and have resulted in a large number of expatriates living illegally in the Kingdom will take more than six months.



It is necessary to extend the amnesty period and to open a number of additional labor offices in different places with enough employees in order to solve the problem of overcrowding. The government employees will be able to work in a comfortable environment, and people will be able to finish their paperwork easily and without trouble. It is also necessary for the government to take action against those sponsors who are exploiting their expatriate workers during the amnesty period.

 

– Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com