KINGDOM Four million correct status, 1 million leave Last updated: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 12:15 AM MAKKAH — More than 4 million foreigners have so far rectified their labor and residency status by taking advantage of the amnesty announced by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, according to a senior official at the Ministry of Labor. Around 1 million unregulated foreigners have left the Kingdom during the grace period that will end on Nov. 3, said Faisal Al-Otaibi, director general of inspections at the ministry. The seven-month grace period has benefited nearly half of foreigners living in the Kingdom, according to a report in Al-Madinah Arabic daily. “The process has had a tremendous response from the expatriate community and this shows their keenness in adhering to the rules and regulations,” he said. Al-Otaibi warned that stringent punitive measures would be taken against violating employers and expatriate workers. “The penal actions include a fine of up to SR100,000 or two-year imprisonment or both for Saudi employers and deportation and a re-entry ban for foreigners. “The inspection raids will continue until we ensure the last illegal foreigner has left the Kingdom.” Meanwhile, some illegal residents from neighboring countries started returning to their country before the end of the grace period. Several overstayers were seen walking on foot to dodge security checkpoints and then travel by vehicles to reach the Kingdom’s southern border. They included Yemenis, Ethiopians and Chadians. Most of them were street vendors and ordinary workers and were finding it very difficult to get transportation to their border destinations. Private transporters said they were ready to carry them if they agreed to alight before the checkpoints and board the vehicle after it had gone through them. Muhammad Al-Haddadi and Shami Ali, both Yemeni nationals, said that it took three days for them to reach the Yemeni border. Al-Haddadi said: “Our agreement with some transporters was that they would take us to a destination before the checkpoint. Then, they arrange us transportation from a place beyond the checkpoint.” It is a lucrative business for some vehicle owners who are using the Jeddah–Jazan coastal road to transport the illegal residents in this way. Abdu Hussein and Abdul Hadi Omar said that they were respecting the Saudi rules and obeying the Labor Ministry’s warning to leave the Kingdom before the expiry of the amnesty deadline. These Yemeni youths were workers at the Grand Mosque Expansion Project in Makkah. The illegal residents expressed hope that they would return to the Kingdom after obtaining employment visas to work in the country in the future.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 22:15:33 +0000
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