SAUDI ARABIA ANNOUNCED TO REDUCE NUMBER OF VISAS TO EMPLOYERS WHOSE WORKERS ARE FOUND RUNNING AWAY AFTER OBTAINING VISA AS LAST YEAR THERE WERE 525301 ESCAPEES OUT OF 7,243,107 FOREIGN WORKERS WITH EMPLOYER TO FACE FINE OF SR 5000 PER WORKER ESCAPING AND WORKER SR1000 FOR FIRST OFFENSE Sun, 2014-01-05 03:00 The Ministry of Labor has drafted a decision to reduce the number of visas granted to business entities if the percentage of runaway workers exceeds 10 percent of the total number of employees working at the facility. The move is expected to limit the cases of labor runaways following an increase in the number of such cases to more than half a million out of seven million workers recruited in the Kingdom. Such a widespread phenomenon has prompted employers to report such incidents to the Ministry of Labor to absolve themselves of legal responsibility. Absconding laborers are not counted in the Nitaqat nationalization program. The draft takes into consideration two factors when the facility reports escape cases, which includes deplorable working conditions that may have led to the workers running away. According to the Nitaqat nationalization system, one visa is deducted from a work facility’s quota if the percentage of absconding reports exceeds 10 percent of the total number of workers in a 12-month period. Official statistics show a variable number of reports drafted by labor offices across the Kingdom. Some regions recorded higher percentage of escape cases than others, sometimes accounting for as much as 11 percent of the total number of workers. Other percentages ranged between seven to 10 percent. There were 525,301 escapees out of 7,243,107 workers residing in the country. Al-Zulfi region recorded the highest percentage of escape cases, with 11.17 percent of the total, followed by Bisha, with 10.96 percent. Al-Ola came third, at 10.22 percent, followed by Al-Wajeh, Ras Tanura and Baha, with close to 9 percent of the total. Meanwhile, Abqaiq, Al-Ahsa, Abha, Arar, Tabuk, Al-Jouf, Onaiza and Tarif all recorded close to 8 percentage of the total, followed by Al-Mujama, Wadi Al-Dawasir, Quryyat, Taif, Kharj, Al-Res, Al-Dwadmi, Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah at about 7 percent. The other regions that recorded 6 percent of runaway cases included Shaqra, Buraidah, Al-Jubail, Hail and Yanbu. Other regions, including Al-Aflaj, Al-Khufaji, Jazan, Hafer Al-Baten, Makkah, Najran and Qunfudha, recorded between 2.87 to 5.87 percent. In Riyadh, there are 151,061 escapees out of 2,114,192 workers registered at the labor office, while in Jeddah, the figures stands at 71,857 workers out of 1,016,626, in Makkah 15,175 escapees and in Alkhobar, 34,571. Maher Jamal, a member of the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the chamber made three suggestions to eliminate the problem of runaway workers two years ago. The proposals included criminalizing absconding with deterrent punishment imposed on escapees and liaising with labor-exporting countries on the issue. “There are several issues that require the immediate attention and are being addressed by the ministry, such as employment, nationalization of jobs, creating job opportunities, giving support to the private sector and resolving work concealment issues,” he said. “But the most important problem remains the issue of runaway workers, which needs immediate resolution.” He said the Ministry of Labor should include terms and conditions that deal with escape cases, including imposing a fine of SR50 per day of absence. He said the government treasury loses SR1.8 billion annually on the deportation of runaway workers, notwithstanding fines. “With the imposition of a fine of not less than SR5,000 for every escaped worker or violator of labor and residency laws, the country will receive about SR1.8 billion,” he said, adding that there will be fines imposed on any employer who is found to be harboring a runaway worker. Illegal expats who are found to be in violation of the labor and residency system will incur a fine of SR1,000 for the first offense.”
Posted on: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 06:17:01 +0000
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