Faris Al-Qahtani Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – The Ministry of Labor will announce details of the mechanism to correct status of foreign workers within a week. The ministry, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior, is currently working out the detailed plan and mechanism to implement the order of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah that gives a three-month time to undocumented workers to rectify their status, according to ministry sources. The ministry has instructed its staff across the Kingdom not to take their annual leave during the three-month period. The authorities concerned are also taking measures to link labor visas to the duration of government projects to ensure that contract workers go back home after the completion of their contract period. But there will be an exception in the case of contracting companies if they face shortage of workers to complete other government projects within the stipulated period of time. In such cases, iqamas of workers will be renewed, the sources added. Meanwhile in Manila, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz urged some 30,000 undocumented Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia to take advantage of the Kingdom's three-month reprieve on its crackdown on illegal workers to legalize their stay. In a statement Wednesday, Baldoz said employers should legalize the stay of undocumented Filipino workers. She stressed that Saudi authorities will fully enforce the counrty's labor and visa requirements, and punish violators with steep fines and jail time after the three-month reprieve. Saudi penalties range from SR1,000 to SR50,000, Baldoz noted. “The main problem, however, is regarding the undocumented mothers and children seeking repatriation who have to pass stringent requirements,” said Baldoz. “Most of the parents do not possess a marriage contract, or have an expired iqama, or have no iqama at all,” she explained. A 2012 report of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) and the Overseas Workers' Welfare Administration (OWWA) showed that there were 20,000 undocumented Filipino workers in Riyadh, 10,000 in Jeddah and in the Western region, 300 in the Eastern Province, and 100 in the central region. A mood of apprehension had engulfed many expatriates in the Kingdom, following a crackdown in March on residents who are not properly registered. On Saturday Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah announced a three-month amnesty to give foreigners a chance to sort out their papers. Under Saudi law, all foreign residents must be sponsored by a Saudi company or individual, who is named on their iqama. The Kingdom has a massive black market for expatriate labor, in which foreign workers are nominally registered to one sponsor but actually work for another. Most foreign workers come from India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Ethiopia and Yemen and other Arab countries. – With agencies
