Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi

 

DID we take advantage of the amnesty period to correct the status of expatriates in the Kingdom in the best way possible? Did all illegal expatriates manage to rectify their status during this period? What were the hurdles that prevented those who wanted to correct their status from doing so?



Before answering these questions, we have to accept the fact that the law of the land must be respected and those who attempt to violate or ignore it –whether they are Saudis or expatriates – must be penalized.



Illegal expatriates have been classified into various categories. The first group are  those who infiltrated across the borders of the Kingdom and their presence in the country is a crime. Hence they will be prosecuted together with those who gave them transportation or shelter or extended to them any kind of help.



The second group are those who came on Haj and Umrah visas and overstayed in the Kingdom after the expiry of their visas. Unlike the first category, the entry of these people into the Kingdom was legal, but later they violated the regulations. These people as well as those who gave them jobs or shelter should also face penal action.



As for the third category, they are a group of people who came to Saudi Arabia on employment visas to work with their sponsors, who are either individuals or establishments and companies. These expatriates include those who were well aware that they were coming to the Kingdom on a so-called “free visa”, which they had obtained from visa agents operating in their respective countries, and that with this visa they could work anywhere they wanted. This group also includes those who only learned after their arrival in the Kingdom that they had no fixed job with their sponsor and that they had to find work on their own. These people are forced to give a fixed amount of money to the sponsor every month. They also have to pay all the fees related with the issuance of the iqama (residency permit) and  the re-entry visa, in addition to travel expenses.



This last group of people are victims of injustice as they were lured to the Kingdom and then found themselves in a desperate situation with no recourse but to search for work with someone other than their sponsor or open a commercial shop either in the name of the sponsor or anyone else in return for a fixed amount of money to the person in whose name the shop was registered. This type of business is known as cover up (tasattur), which is illegal in the Kingdom.



In such cases, the major responsibility for this situation must be placed upon the shoulders of the individuals or firms that applied for visas and recruited expatriate workers even though they did not have jobs to give them. They are virtually visa traders and hence penal action must be taken against them before taking any punitive measures against the expatriate victims of their visa trade.



The officials who issued them visas without ascertaining that they had jobs for those whom they were hiring must also be penalized. In most cases, there is every possibility that some of these officials were well aware that these applicants were involved in the visa trade. Thus, they joined them as partners in this lucrative business, which is a forbidden trade as far as Islamic Shariah, the law of the land, and the Kingdom’s traditions are concerned.



When we try to find an answer for the question of who were the real beneficiaries of the grace period among these three categories of illegal expatriates, we can see that the first and second groups benefited more than the third group. This is mainly because the first two groups had nothing to do with any sponsors who usually bargain with their workers with regard to the amount of money that the workers have to pay for the transfer of their sponsorship.



But this was not the case with those expatriates who came on a free visa and were forced to find a job because their sponsor did not have work for them. Some of these expatriates worked illegally with the knowledge of their sponsors while others worked without their knowledge. This was the case with runaway (huroob) workers. This section of expatriates benefited the least from the grace period for the correction of labor and residency status. This is mainly because of the attitude of their greedy sponsors who demanded that they pay large sums of money for the transfer of sponsorship which the poor workers could not afford to do. In consequence, these workers were in a desperate situation and could not take advantage of the grace period to transfer their sponsorship.



Moreover, there were other hurdles. These included the difficulties in completing the paperwork required to correct expatriates’ labor and residential status due to the big rush at the Labor and Passport Offices plus the bureaucratic bottlenecks which exist in those offices. For such people, the only alternative was to rely on expeditors (muaqibs) who did a thriving business during the amnesty period. These muaqibs demanded exorbitant charges amounting in some cases to SR10,000. However, these workers were not in a position to pay such a large amount of money.



I have received a lot of e-mails in which expatriates have asked me to help them to rectify their status. I regret that I had to point out to them that I am not in a position to help them in this regard as this is completely outside of my capabilities. However, what I can do is to write about their issues and shed light on the problems that they are facing. In this regard, I have already put forward some suggestions in my previous articles.



One of these suggestions was the extension of the grace period for one more time so as to enable a large number of illegal expatriates to rectify their status. I also suggested addressing the problems created by sponsors as this is clearly the root of all problems faced by expatriates. There are some sponsors who lack religious faith, fear of God, and even conscience, and their only concern is to get rich quickly at any cost and by any means.



The concerned authorities must come forward with stern steps to put an end to this practice because these sponsors are harming not only their workers but also their country and people, in addition to their own religion, values and conscience.



Finally, I express my regret, pain and grief over the developments that have taken place, the souls that have been lost and the injuries that some people have suffered.  Also, I hope that this will never happen again.

 

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