Don’t let Saudi visa traders go scot-free

The extensive crackdown by Saudi authorities on expatriates with suspect residency issues recently has put an uncharacteristic and taxing demand on diplomatic missions in the kingdom as thousands of their nationals seek answers and relief. The issue primarily concerns Asian countries that supply much of the unskilled and semi-skilled labour that the country needs.

At the height of the crackdown, several businesses and services came to a halt as workers, afraid of being rounded up and sent to deportation camps, chose to remain at home. Many construction sites were devoid of the usual activity. Traffic also eased considerably much to the delight of lawful residents.

The labour ministry and the passport department were concerned over the issue of unregistered and illegal residents. In addition, there was the issue of runaways — workers who fled their sponsors — and others employed by individuals other than their own sponsors. Finally, there were those whose residency permits mentioned one profession, but they were caught doing something else.

The fever of uncertainty that swept through the expatriate community afflicted even the thousands of foreign housewives who teach in schools and other support professions. These were unsanctioned workers, and once the raids began, most of them opted to stay home rather than risk being rounded up. Legally, they are attached to the residency status of their husbands and not allowed to work. But for years, the opposite has been happening and the authorities did not act.

Alarm bells vibrated throughout the entire expatriate community as official information trickled out in bits and pieces while the raids continued. Rumours fed the unnerved souls of those expatriates unsure of their legal status in the country. Reports of arrests and deportation had sent shock waves through many communities, and their politicians and media back home sat up and began to either make politically correct promises or cover the event extensively.

Concerned that the mass deportation would create its own set of problems with returning workers, politicians from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Bangladesh among others visited the kingdom to plead for relief for their countrymen from the Saudi authorities.

Leading newspapers from these countries chimed in. At the onset of the raids over two months ago, the Times of India reported that ‘With Saudi Arabia firmly implementing naturalisation laws that will hit Kerala expatriates there, the state government plans to urge the Centre to seek a clemency period of six months for non-resident Indians trapped in the Kingdom… Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday and raise the demand to buy time for finalising alternative options and ensure that those violating the law won’t land in Saudi prisons’.

Indian and Pakistani diplomatic missions went to extraordinary lengths to reassure their countrymen who had been severely unnerved by the turn of events. Among the largest expatriate communities, it was essential that the panic and reaction of these communities were dealt with efficiently. Updated status and clarification of rules and regulations were periodically posted in the news and on consular websites.

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz then decreed that a grace period of three months be given to all those expatriates with suspect papers so as to give them a chance to get them straightened out. The clock runs out on July 3 — less than three weeks.

The ministry reiterated recently that there will not be any extension to the grace period and that penalties will be imposed on violators immediately after the deadline expires. It also warned employers to ensure that all undocumented and illegal expatriates either correct their status or leave the kingdom. Violators face two years in prison and a fine up to 10,000 riyals.

Many who came to Saudi Arabia seeking a pot of gold made good use of the amnesty programme and returned home for good. Others still remain, uncertain and unsure of what is to happen. Many are victims of greed. Unscrupulous Saudi visa traders who somehow managed to garner bulk visas would sell them to expatriates desperate to eke out a decent living.

One such worker borrowed and practically mortgaged his life and belongings to scrape together enough money to pay for the visa provided by some unscrupulous Saudi visa trader who provided no support or services other than to squeeze additional money from the hapless victim each year simply for allowing him to remain in the country.

This is a crime of the highest proportion, and it should be such Saudis who trade in human misery who should be rounded up and jailed. If the authorities want to stop the practice of residency violations and undocumented workers, then start by attacking the visa traders before anything else. They are the real criminals!

Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@talmaeena