DAMMAM, 13 August 2003 — They came here with dreams and aspirations but ended up in a nightmare. They came here to improve the lives of their families and provide their children with a better education, but instead they found their survival in question.

Many Asian laborers have become victims of company regulations that completely contravene the Saudi Labor Law.

These companies decide that no new laborer will be paid his salary for the first three months — in some cases as many as seven months — to guarantee that he stays with the company and to indemnify the employer against any future losses he incurs on the job.

How do the workers survive? These companies have evolved a system where the management introduces the workers to a nearby general store and makes arrangements that the store will give the workers credit on the goods they buy, with the company acting as guarantor.

“When I came here I borrowed nearly 100,000 Taka (nearly SR6,000) to pay my agent for the visa and other minor expenses,” said Mustapha, a Bangladeshi working in a big contracting company in Alkhobar’s Subaikha District.

“I promised that as soon as I reached Saudi Arabia I would start sending money. It has been six months since I came here and I have not received any salary; as a result could not send money back home. I know how much embarrassment my wife and children must be facing,” he added.

This is a normal practice adopted mainly by contracting and maintenance companies, a lawyer who deals in labor cases told Arab News. “But the problem is that the laborers are scared to go to labor court and they do not have resources,” he said. Some of laborers working for a maintenance company in Dammam are so frustrated that they have asked their company to send them back on an exit visa. “But this did not happen either. My supervisor told me that I am bound to complete the two years contract period,” said Sahul, a south Indian laborer.

According to Abdul Aziz Al-Hoshani, an eminent lawyer in the Eastern Province, “if there is an agreement between the employer and the employee to the effect that the employee will not be given a salary for a stipulated period, that is legal and the worker has no case. But if there is no such agreement, then of course legal action can be taken against the employer.”

But the workers are unable to say whether they have signed any such document. They are not in possession of their contracts, so they cannot ascertain the legal status of the provision, if it exists.

The workers are also paying their own Iqama fees and have been told that they and not the company will in future have to pay for all exit and re-entry visa fees. They say that their managers have told them that when they get their salaries the management will deduct expenses for their Iqama; The Saudi Labor Law clearly stipulates that the cost of the Iqama and other legal documents pertaining to the stay of the foreign worker is borne by the sponsor.

The practice is not restricted to contracting and maintenance companies but extends to reputable commercial organizations. There are also instances where newly recruited doctors are not paid their salary for first three months. The hospitals that employ them will only say that the delay in salary payments is due to processing.

Many unpaid workers look for other sources of income and end up washing cars near the corniche or as domestic help in hundreds of households in Dammam and Alkhobar. This is illegal, but for many it is the only thing that can ensure their survival.