Saudi king delays crackdown on illegal migrant workers

MANILA, Philippines – The Saudi Arabian government suspended for 3 months its crackdown on migrant workers without proper documentation.

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ordered its Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Labor on Saturday, April 6, to give illegal migrant workers more time to fix their papers.

Saudi has more than 9 million expatriates from countries like Yemen, India, Pakistan and the Philippines, a Reuters report said. It has already deported over 200,000 foreigners due to documentation problems.

Former Philippine labor undersecretary Susan Ople, now head of the Blas Ople Policy Center, lauded the labor ruling.

“Thousands of OFWs in Saudi Arabia without proper documents are overjoyed by this announcement because they can now at least freely move around and seek the embassy’s help in correcting their status. However, 3 months can go by fast, so we hope that our diplomatic posts in Saudi Arabia can be given the resources and personnel needed to help our OFWs take advantage of the grace period,” she said.

Saudi law dictates that migrant workers must be sponsored by their employers. But many switch jobs without transferring their residency papers.

The Saudi government wants to deport illegal workers to put more Saudi nationals into private sector posts.

Ople said OFWs who have lost touch with their original sponsors should seek help from the Philippine Embassy in Riyahd and other diplomatic offices in Saudi Arabia to beat the 3-month grace period.

Ople also urged the Philippine government to beef up the resources of its diplomatic offices in the Middle East.

“Last year, 10 foreign posts in other countries were closed down by the DFA and DBM (Department of Budget and Management). We ask now the Philippine government to immediately allocate part of those savings to augment the resources of our embassy in Saudi Arabia as well as in other countries in the Middle East so that they can better serve our workers,” she said. – with reports from Reynaldo Santos Jr./Rappler.com