RIYADH: About 80 percent of Indian workers applying for Emergency Certificate (EC) are runaway workers (huroob) not covered by the Saudi amnesty announced in October last year, Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad told a press conference in Riyadh, Sunday. Ahmad said he discussed the issue of huroob with Adel Fakieh, Labor Minister, during his recent meeting and informed him about the Indian Embassy's analysis that showed about 80 percent of the applicants that applied for EC were runaway workers, technically not covered by the Saudi amnesty. The Saudi government has announced a six-month amnesty for those foreigners that overstayed after the expiry of their Haj, Umrah and visit visa. The Saudi amnesty ends in March. “I had the privilege of meeting labor minister, and discussing the subject (Saudi amnesty) in some detail. As per the existing norms of the Saudi government, only those people who are illegal because they have overstayed after the expiry of their Haj, Umrah or visit visa are covered by the Saudi amnesty,” Ahmad explained. The envoy said that during his meeting with Minister Fakieh he brought the issue of huroob cases to his knowledge. “I pointed out to the labor minister that, according to my estimate, the number of Indians who can avail of Saudi amnesty would not be more than 15,000 or 20,000,” he said. The envoy said the bigger challenge for Saudi authorities and the Indian government was to address the matter of those so-called huroob. “These are people who are illegal residents here because of problems connected with their employment visa and are not covered in the categories currently stipulated in the Saudi amnesty. According to our estimates, their number would be about 50,000,” he said. He said during the previous Saudi amnesties the Indian Embassy in Riyadh had handled only a very few expatriate workers as compared with current numbers that reached between 700 and 1,000 people on a daily basis. “We continue in our efforts to persuade the Saudi government to include huroob cases within the amnesty so that the departure of these people from Saudi Arabia could be expedited. “We know there are legal difficulties and I told the labor minister that people with criminal charges can be retained till their cases are resolved,” he said.
