The biggest gift a Saudi can get are work visas, which have become quite profitable to trade in the black market. People who sell work visas have made millions of riyals — they recruit a foreigner on a work visa then free him to work in the market in exchange for a monthly fee. They can also sell visas to other brokers or merchants. The safest and most stable profit, however, comes from Tasatur (where foreigners run and control a business in exchange for a monthly fee paid to the registered Saudi owner), especially in the contracting sector. Tasatur can be a very lucrative arrangement for expatriates. I recently read about a carpenter who had SR5 million in his bank account because he ran several businesses under a Saudi's name. The selling of visas, which we may correctly describe as trading in human beings, has increased the number of foreigners in our country to eight million. This is in addition to about a million overstayers many of who are criminals, drug traffickers and bootleggers. According to a recent report, Saudi women have a tight grasp on the market of illegally renting housemaids. The report said the average monthly salary of maids has gone up to SR2,000 while the cost of obtaining permission to work for another sponsor has reached SR20,000. The solution to all these problems is simple: Abolish the Kafala (sponsorship) system. The government should be the sole sponsor of all foreigners in the Kingdom. This will end the phenomenon of Tasatur and will expose all foreigners doing business in the names of Saudis.
