The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) on Monday called again for scrapping the sponsorship system for foreign workers, after investigating the plight of workers deployed at King Abdul Aziz International Airport here. NSHR appealed to the Ministry of Labor and the airport administration to look into Labor Law violations against 400 airport porters and protect their rights. Dr. Husein Al-Shareef, director of the NSHR branch in Makkah Province, and members of the society Tala Qusti and Yasser Khoja, in their on-site investigation of workers deployed by contracted companies at the airport found several violations. These included long work hours – 12 hours without overtime – which goes against the Labor Law. In addition, they receive low salaries and do not have suitable medical insurance, NSHR reported. Also, the companies withhold the resident permits (Iqamas) of some of the workers and do not provide them with suitable safety equipment that their work requires. Al-Shareef said the workers are not granted their weekly off days, and annual vacations are granted only after four years. Also, they work in the airport's sweltering basement that lacks air-conditioning toilets and cool drinking water supply. Al-Shareef said NSHR is keen on ensuring that these workers get their rights and be compensated. “We demand of the Ministry of Labor to implement the (labor) regulations against these companies so as to guarantee the workers' rights, including their right to rest and not to exceed the stipulated eight working hours daily. “They must also get their Iqamas and medical insurance,” he said. The NSHR delegation also noted that the embassies of these workers have ignored their plight. Al-Shareef said that the society had earlier sought an end to the sponsorship system and that the airport visit reinforced NSHR's stand that it has shortcomings that are exploited against the interest of foreign workers. The competent authorities must take the NSHR study on the sponsorship system into consideration, he said. – Okaz __
