Shoura member proposes ‘insurance' as alternativeRIYADH – Many Saudi sponsors are calling on authorities for a change in the law for workers who run away. They want this action to be considered a crime, which would result in jail time and financial penalties to the violators. Another demand is to make workers deposit a reasonable amount with sponsors as insurance against running away and incurring financial losses to their sponsors. Dr. Meshal Al-Ali, member of the Shoura, argued that it was unreasonable to consider escaped workers as criminals and that it was against human rights. He admitted that when a worker runs away from his obligations, then that would be wasting the sponsor's money. In order to put an end to the problem, he suggests some new clauses in the contract between the worker and his sponsor. The Ministry of Labor should also enter tough agreements with the countries exporting labor to put an end to this problem. One of them would be to draft financial insurance agreements. Al-Ali called on enforcing the insurance system which would cover losses when a worker escapes. The worker should not arrive in the Kingdom until the insurance amount is paid and that would guarantee that he would continue working. “When a Saudi sponsor who pays SR25,000 recruitment fees has a worker escape, then the insurance company should pay that amount. What is happening now is that Saudi sponsors are suffering huge financial losses because of runaway maids and laborers.” He said that Saudi sponsors are facing injustice from runaway workers because the sponsor's right is not protected. There is lack of enforcing tough laws on runaway workers in addition to punishing those who are harboring them or helping them find other jobs, which is considered a violation. He is hoping for a long-term strategy that will put an end to this problem, calling on all responsible authorities to play a significant role in putting an end to the illegal workers dilemma.
