Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — A group of Saudi citizens have called on Abragh Al-Raghama Passports Department in the city to coordinate with the Labor Office to set unified rules for canceling huroob (runaway) reports filed against expatriate workers who have run away from their sponsors, Al-Madinah daily reported. They complained about the mechanism the department used to organize the long lines of service-seekers. Some said the waiting room had poor air-conditioning while there was no toilet or cafeteria. The majority of people were waiting in long lines under the scorching sun. Many of them could not get through to the officers, whereas some of them had to pay double the rates for the necessary forms sold by general service offices outside the department. Some had come several times to the department but could not get their transactions processed because there were not enough officers to handle the avalanche of requests and applications. The department should work two shifts to expedite the processing of applications, a man standing in a long queue told Al-Madinah. Another suggested that they move the department to the spacious sports gym at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium. Issa Al-Shehri complained about the absence of any form of coordination between the Passports Department and the Labor Office. “If you succeed in getting a huroob report filed against an expatriate worker dropped and you want to transfer the sponsorship of that worker, you'll be surprised that it's difficult to do that because the department's system does not get updated simultaneously. “The worker is still considered a runaway expatriate in the Passports Department's system.” Both systems should be linked so that services are provided faster, Al-Shehri said.
