New rules for domestic workers

The Saudi Government's Ministry of Labor has now issued new rules for domestic workers. When you actually go through the list of these new rules, you would find that there is hardly any room for cheer for these poor expats.

Probably no other category of expats working in Saudi Arabia deserve more sympathy and attention than domestic workers. They have been continuously ill-treated, over-worked, under-paid and in many cases physically and sexually abused by their sponsors. Just take a look at the number of runaway maids from various countries and you will know what I mean. And day after day, like ostriches, the establishment digs its head deeper into the sand wishing that the problem would go away.

The labor ministry finally decided to give these modern-day slaves a weekly day off or at least agreed to let it be so on paper. Oh, but what about the masters and their families? Who will take care of their kids if these slaves run away? Here comes the rider. The domestic helps can take a weekly off, but if they have to go out, they must do so only with their sponsors' families. If they prefer not to do so, they can take their weekly off by staying at home.  Every heard of a weekly off where you are supposed to go to your office, but need not work? The chairman of the National Committee for Recruitment (ever heard of this organization??) says, "The regulation allows the domestic helps or drivers to enjoy their weekend day off...". Some weekly off and some enjoyment. These guys certainly have a sense of humor.

Now take a closer look at the new rule. If the domestic worker is a male, he is allowed to go anywhere he likes during his weekly off, but if the worker is a female, she has to necessarily stay at home. So what did you expect in the Kingdom of Humanity?

Meanwhile, embassies are gearing up for the mass exodus of workers from the kingdom. The Indian embassy has announced various helpline numbers. Starting today, a team of Arabic speaking officers and volunteers will be stationed at the Riyadh deportation center (Tarheel) and at Riyadh airport, 24 hours a day. The Tarheel helpline numbers are 0546843866 / 94 / 36 and 0546843903. At Riyadh International airport, the helpline numbers are 0546843922 / 3919 / 3734 / 3750 and 0548981774.

The Indian embassy has also announced that the last date for submission of new Emergency Certificate applications is 20th June.

The deadline issued by SriLankan embassy is 15th June (Phone numbers: 0114608232 / 235). Filipino citizens can search their passport by clicking on this link (click here), while Nepalese can search the same by clicking here.

With less than a month to go for the expiry of the grace period, there seems to be no hint, at least at this point of time, for any extension of deadline. It is going to be a nightmare considering that there are still thousands of expats waiting for their turn to get out.

Some relief finally?

The last three days have seen such a frenzied activity that each time I tried to write about one topic, there was a new development popping up immediately, so I decided to wait and consolidate all of them.

You might recollect my earlier article (click here) about the changes to the original Nitaqat scheme. So much has been the impact of these changes that the Saudi Government was forced to call the diplomats of all major labor exporting countries for a briefing last week. A series of "concessions" were announced. The most important among them are:

• All "illegal" workers (i.e., those without valid papers / working elsewhere other than their original sponsors) before 6th April, 2013, would be allowed to leave the kingdom without penalty. Their fingerprints would be taken, if not done already, but there would now be no restriction on their return to the kingdom for employment, unlike earlier.

 

• These workers are also allowed to change their sponsorship to any other sponsor without the need to take permission from their original sponsor. Transfer is possible even if the current sponsor witholds any documents. The only condition now is that the new sponsor must be in green category. Those who wish to check the category of the new sponsor can do so by visiting this link (click here). This is a huge relief for those whose sponsors are in red category and for those who are stuck in the kingdom because their sponsors have defaulted. Take a look at my earlier article (click here) in which this blog had highlighted how expats working in Saudi Arabia were suffering due to the faults of their sponsors.

 

• Final exit or exit/reentry will not be stamped on these employees' passports for 3 months, starting from the date of transfer of sponsorship. This is to settle any outstanding issues.
 
• Professions can be changed before 3rd July, 2013 without the need to pay any fees. The only condition is that these professions must not fall under those reserved exclusively for Saudis (read, easy-going-white-collared-jobs??). Some of these professions are clerk, receptionist, cashier, expeditor, etc. (And you thought they would be janitor, barber, cobbler, mechanic and carpenter?) Similarly, those who came to the kingdom to perform Hajj or Umrah before 3rd July, 2008 can obtain employment in the kingdom and they will be treated similar to the cases of "illegal" workers. Those who entered the kingdom illegally are not eligible for this concession.

 

• The Ministry of Labor has grandly announced a customer service number, primarily intended to "help" expats, which is 920001173. Unfortunately, the guy at the other end speaks only Arabic (some service!), so I would advise you to keep an Arabic speaking person next to you, in case you want to use this. I would like to recollect to readers my earlier article (click here) about a similar helpless help line announced by the Ministry of Interior. Same is the case with the grand announcement that all details are available in the Ministry of Labor's website. Just take a look at it (www.mol.gov.sa) and you will understand how insensitive they are to expats by having all the information only in Arabic.
 

In related developments, the  ban on transfer of sponsorship of Bangladeshi expats has been lifted. Isn't it amazing that we never get to see an official announcement about these things, either the imposition or lifting of the ban? How could an entire community be blamed for the misdeeds of a few? And look who is talking about "discrimination" (click here)! What crap!

 

Foreign missions are now gearing up to beat the deadline of 3rd July. The Indian Embassy has collected 15000 passports of "runaway workers" from their original sponsors. These people can check in this link (click here) and can also call 01 4884697, 01 4881982, 0501699879, 0501700106, 0501699895, 0501699894. (P.S.After I published this article, I got an intimation from one of the readers Mr. Shaiku that there is a cheaper option. Scroll through the comments section). Similarly, the Phillipines embassy has in its possession 27000 passports while its consulate in Jeddah has 12000 passports. Filipinos can send an sms to 0569893301 with the text "Surrendered Passport" giving their last and first names, to find out if their passports are with their embassy. They can also call 01 4801918 or visit their embassy's website (click here). The Sri Lankan embassy plans to organize mobile consular services in Dammam, Hail, Al-Qassim and Saqaka. Nepali citizens can get in touch with their embassy by calling 01 4611108/ 4645170.

 

Meanwhile, there has been lukewarm response to the announcement that legal expatriates working in Saudi Arabia are now eligible to apply for GOSI (General Organization for Social Insurance). Remember in the eighties how expats were stripped of this right overnight? Expats do not want such cosmetic reforms. They just want to be treated well, paid on time and be able to live and leave with dignity.

 

To work or not to?

This blog has maintained since its inception that for expatriates working in Saudi Arabia, the only thing certain in the kingdom is uncertainty. This has been proved repeatedly by the grandeur in which spate of rules and regulations are announced, only to be retracted with equal ferocity.

Probably the most pathetic among  expatriates working in Saudi Arabia are their spouses working in International Schools. These teachers, respected more than parents in their homelands for their noble profession, are rather degradingly termed as "housewives" by the local press. Little thought is given to the simple fact  that these women were hired by International schools because they were qualified, not  because they were "just housewives". 

The recent raids by the iqama-clipping over-zealous morons in the name of implementing Nitaqat has shaken the confidence of these teachers, who work to add some income to their husbands' kitty, not to just pass time. Most teachers preferred to stay at home out of fear. No one was sure whether they would be arrested and deported for working illegally, so they did the next best thing - they simply stopped going to work.

So bad was the situation that, believe it or not, an sms was sent by none other than the Ministry of Education to various International Schools in the kingdom. Here is the sms, which is self-explanatory:

Teachers heaved a sigh of relief and they started trickling in back to the schools. After all, the sms came from the horse's mouth, directly from the Ministry of Education, so they cant be wrong isn't it? Wrong. If in doubt, read the first sentence of this post once more!


Then came the damper. So what if the Education Ministry wanted schools to remain open? The Labor Ministry does not think so. In a complete reversal of the stand taken by the Ministry of Education, the spokesman for the Labor Ministry completely denied that spouses of expats were allowed to work. "The news is false, the ministry has not issued any such regulation", said the spokesman. Come on, the news was spread by none other than the Education Ministry through an sms! But then you don't talk logic in the kingdom, right? Take a look at this link:

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130430163669

So, it is now back to Square One. What do you expect these poor teachers to do? Do you want them to work or not? What would happen after the three-month grace period is over?

The worrisome part is that even if the sponsorship of these teachers are transferred to their respective schools to make their employment "legal", the real issue is that their passports would now have to be handed over to their schools. Now, how many husbands in their good sense would like to hand over their wives' passports to another sponsor? What would happen if the husband loses his job and the wife's sponsor refuses to release her passport? Would it mean that the wife stays in the kingdom and the husband and kids go back? These are all frighteningly real possibilities in Paradise. Where is this society heading? The very thought is worrisome, isn't it?

On a related note, I think a safe bet would be for these highly qualified women (I hate to call them as "housewives") work from home. The world is a small place and is just a few mouse-clicks away. Take a look at this link for some guidance on how to make money sitting at home.

http://guidance.homepreneur-online.com

Let's hope good sense prevails and we get to see these teachers back to work very soon. "Legally" and without fear.

Now, pay for your return tickets!

The Cabinet has this week approved a series of new rules and regulations which has a direct bearing on all expatriates working in Saudi Arabia.

 

The Saudi Labor Law specifically states that the to and fro air tickets of expatriates would be borne by the sponsor. Now, with the new decision of the cabinet, there is a gaping loophole which I am sure unscrupulous sponsors would make complete use of.

 

The new rules were meant specifically to target the "illegals", i.e., those who have run away from their current sponsors and are working with someone else. Those who have come to the kingdom on so-called "free" visas are also classified as illegals. For those who are uninitiated, "free" here does not mean the free as in 'Buy one Take one free'. What it means is that some expats come to the kingdom by paying a hefty amount to their sponsors, who in return allow them to run a business on their own. These sponsors do not care what the expats do, as long as they are paid regularly. The expats are free to do whatever they want. This type of business, though illegal, has been going on for several decades, and such visas are nicknamed as "free" visas. Believe it or not, even those Saudis at the highest levels of society are party to this, and some of them do not even know where their employees are! With the recent crackdown and raids, small businesses have taken a severe beating. Most affected are tiny shops employing less than 2 or 3 persons, like saloons, small tea shops, cobblers, etc. Since the new rule requires all businesses employing less than 10 pesons to have at least one Saudi employed, and since you cannot see a Saudi barber or a cobbler or a tea shop worker because it is below their dignity to do such work, such establishments are dying a natural death.

 

One of the 14 articles in the new law approved by the Saudi cabinet this week specifically states that those illegals who are caught will not only be deported, but will have to pay for their return tickets themselves. The new rule says that the persons employing them illegally will have to pay for their tickets, but who is going to admit it? Now here comes the big catch. The new rule says that if a sponsor declares that his employee is an absconder ("Huroob"), then he is not liable to pay for his return tickets. The rule does not make any provision for the rights of expatriates (not that they had any) to complain about false declarations by sponsors. So, technically speaking, all that a sponsor has to do is to just file a report saying that his employee is an absconder, and then the poor guy would be deported and sent back at his own cost! And once he is deported, he cannot return to the kingdom either for work with another sponsor or for Umrah / Hajj pilgrimages.

 

The worst affected are those who came in these "free" visas. Most of these guys have borrowed heavily to pay these sponsors and their future is now uncertain. Why isn't there no punishment to these sponsors who issued such visas in the first place, knowing fully well that it was "illegal"? What would happen to all the labor-intensive jobs - loaders at ports, fishermen, sweepers, housemaids, car mechanics, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, AC mechanics, etc.,  when no Saudi is willing to take up such work? Once the 3 months grace period is over, no one knows how things would take a turn. Why this sudden rush to ram all these expats out of the country? Saudization is fine and is also the right of this country to provide jobs to its citizens, but is the method of its implementation right? Human greed knows no bounds and in the kingdom of humanity, one man's suffering is another's pleasure.

 

 

New changes to Nitaqat scheme

Remember all the hype about the Nitaqat scheme when it was introduced? I would like to recollect for the benefit of readers that as per the color code scheme, expatriates in the red category could get themselves transferred to yellow or green category companies. It was also announced with great fanfare and pomp on how "fair" this scheme was to expats and that those in the red category need not even get the permission of their sponsors to change to yellow or green categories.

Probably this announcement took authorities by surprise, because there was such a rush for people to change to yellow and green categories. Finally there was some light at the end of the tunnel. Then came the modification to the rule. Those who did apply for change from red to yellow and green categories could not leave the country for 6 months. Even though this was nothing short of absolute modern-day slavery, most poor expats could do nothing but to just bear this humiliation and carry on. At least there was hope that their papers would be transferred to yellow or green category in due course.

After the wave of discontent resulting from the raids and clipping of Iqamas, there was a royal announcement of a three-month "grace" period for "illegals" to change their status. This raised some hope for those who were caught in the red category as most saw this as their last chance. Yesterday, the fig leaf totally came out with the Ministry of Labor's announcement that those in the red category would not be able to change their status or take advantage of this "grace" period. In other words, they would all have to leave the country on final exit. The whole problem is, if their sponsors refuse to stamp the final exit, these poor expats would automatically be converted into "illegals" and face deportation. And once a person is deported from the kingdom, he just cannot re-enter again throughout his life. 

Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, SriLankan and Filipino embassies are already gearing up for exodus. No one is asking 'whether' this will happen, everyone is asking 'when'. In fact, the Indian embassy is already flooded with applications for an exit pass. So much has been the demand that the embassy was forced to announce that it would also accept applications sent by post and that there was no need for expats to come personally to Riyadh. 

Maybe this is the best chance for these poor expats to get out. What a fall from grace for the world's largest gasoline station from the oil boom days!

On another note, I am happy to announce that the one millionth visitor to this blog arrived this week. I am deeply indebted to my dear readers and expat brothers and sisters who have supported this blog since inception, not to miss my friend and software expert Deepa Govind who played a pivotal role in setting up the consultancy form. To all of you, a big Thank You from the bottom of my heart!