RIYADH, 21 January 2004 — A senior official of the Palestinian Authority has appealed to the Kingdom to increase its recruitment of Palestinians, 60 percent of whom now live below the poverty line.
The Palestinian Authority has also proposed cooperation between the Palestinian and Saudi ministries of labor, including the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, in order to bypass recruitment agencies in Palestine that charge exorbitant rates for processing visas.
The suggestion was made at a meeting between Labor and Social Affairs Minister Dr. Ali Al-Namlah and his Palestinian counterpart Ghassan Al-Khatib yesterday. Saudi and Palestinian businessmen on both sides attended the meeting at which Abdul Rahman Al-Jeraisy, chairman of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Dr. Fahd Al-Sultan, secretary-general of the council, were also present.
Speaking after the meeting, the Palestinian minister said the objective was two-fold: To strengthen bilateral relations between the Kingdom and the Palestinian Authority and to coordinate efforts before the Arab labor conference in Damascus next month.
Al-Khatib said 35 percent of Palestinians are unemployed and 60 percent live below the poverty line. He pointed out that before the Intifada some 150,000 Palestinians worked in Israel. The number is now 10,000. The Palestinian delegation called on the Kingdom to recruit more Palestinian manpower, especially in the skilled and professional categories.
While appreciating difficulties in recruitment and problem with unscrupulous agents, the Saudi labor minister suggested that visas could be processed expeditiously through Saudi embassies in Jordan or Egypt. If this were done, he said, preference would be given to technicians and professionals.
Dr. Al-Namlah realized that the Palestinians were facing difficult choices. While economic hardships have compelled them to go to the Gulf in search of jobs, their departure suited the Israelis who have consolidated their hold on the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza.
