According to Dr. Abdul Wahid Al-Humaid, deputy labor minister for planning and development, despite the Saudization drive, there was a 60 percent increase in the number of visas issued to foreign workers, from 765,624 in 2005 to 1.22 million last year. This, he said, was in response to the growing demand of the labor market brought about by the launching of new development projects, including mega economic cities, which are labor intensive. Al Humaid- stressed, however, that the nationalization of jobs in the private sector remains one of the ministry’s priorities. The country’s unemployment rate is estimated at 12 percent.
733 overstayers nabbed in Jeddah, Eastern Province
Some 733 irregular migrants were rounded up in the Eastern Province and Jeddah by the Passport Department on 16 April. From the Eastern Province, department authorities arrested a total of 350 overstayers, including 95 in Dammam belonging to 10 families, 200 in Alkhobar and another 55 in Abqaiq. Meanwhile, an additional 383 overstayers were apprehended following an early morning raid in the Al-Ruhali district in northern Jeddah.
More than 170 Sri Lankan Umrah pilgrims were stranded at the King Khaled International Airport on 15 April after delays in completing immigration and customs procedures caused them to miss their connecting flight to Jeddah. The distraught pilgrims, who were mostly elderly and accompanied by women and children, were subsequently asked to obtain new boarding passes from the airline desk at the domestic terminal while immigration officials held on to their passports. They allegedly waited five hours before an airline official informed them of developments. They were finally flown to Jeddah aboard three separate flights after an eight-hour delay.
Two Malaysian nationals, Francis Ng Wai Kong, 32, and Victor Hoo Kikm Swee, 54, have been stranded in Saudi Arabia since January after being caught in the middle of a company trade dispute. The two are employed by a company in Johor, Malaysia that manufactures engine parts. They were sent to Saudi Arabia to settle a dispute between their company and its Saudi client. However, the two men decided to return home when the two companies failed to settle their dispute. It was then that the client took their passports, purportedly to apply for further visa extension. Now the Saudi company is allegedly demanding more than SR250,000 to allow them to leave the kingdom.
Effective 16 April, Saudi Arabia is requiring overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) returning to the kingdom for new contracts under new companies to have their old passports stamped with a “No Objection Certificate" (NOC) from their previous employer. The new directive was outlined in a memo issued by the Saudi Arabian embassy in the Philippines on 4 April. The move is allegedly in response to an increasing number of complaints from Saudi employers whose Filipino employees have run away. The memo also contained another restriction requiring returning OFWs to apply for the same job category as that of his previous employment in the kingdom. The memo also restricts the job categories that returning OFWs could apply for, stating that they could only apply for jobs under the same job category as their previous employment.
Four Filipinos died in an accident on 13 April along the Riyadh-Dammam highway when a van carrying three families lost control and turned turtle several times, throwing out some of its passengers. The fatalities include Edimar and Rojani Abrogante, their seven-year old son, and Elien Bantay. Seven other Filipinos survived. The three families were on their way home to the Eastern Province after attending the Foundation Day celebration of the Riyadh-based Master Builders Association of the Philippines.
Saudi Arabia is set to send some 298 students, including 48 women, to New Zealand next month to study in eight of the country’s premier universities under the King Abdullah Scholarship Program. Since it is mandatory under Saudi law for women to travel with legal guardians, the female students in the group would be accompanied by either their brothers or husbands who will also be taking up courses. The eight universities have sent representatives to Saudi Arabia to orient the students on academic courses and about life in New Zealand.
Sources: Abdul Hannan Faisal Tago, “Saudi Arabia restricts re-entry of ex-OFWs," Arab News, 16 April 2007; K.S. Ramkumar, “Malaysians forced to become overstayers," Arab News, 16 April 2007; Mohammed Rasooldeen, “Immigration delay leaves 170 pilgrims stranded in transit," Arab News, 16 April 2007; Faiz Al-Mazrouei, Samir Al-Saadi, “Raids net 733 overstayers," Arab News, 17 April 2007; “Four Filipinos die in Saudi road accident," The Manila Times, 18 April 2007; “Four Pinoys killed in Saudi highway crush," ABS-CBN News, 18 April 2007; Dinan Arana and Flor Catanus, “4 Filipinos die in crash on Riyadh-Dammam Highway," Arab News, 19 April 2007; M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan, “298 Saudi students prep for higher studies in N. Zealand," Arab News, 26 April 2007; P.K. Abdul Ghafour, “Foreign recruitment doubles in a year," Arab News, 29 April 2007; “SR20,000 fine for employing runaway maids," Bahrain Tribune, 30 April 2007