MADINAH, 10 November 2004 — Are they working pilgrims or overstayers? These are the people who gather on Al-Salam Street, half a kilometer west of the Holy Mosque in Madinah. Most of the Umrah pilgrims decide to work before they go home. Some of them do not want to stay permanently in the Kingdom. They want to make a little money by doing manual labor before returning home.

Most of the people gathering here on this day are Egyptian, Afghan and Pakistani nationals.

The only difference between the pilgrim workers in Madinah and the overstayers in Jeddah is that Madinah residents mostly sympathize with them and hire them to do work for good pay.

“Personally I do not see any problem with these people,” said Hashim Salem, who lives two blocks from Al-Salam Street. “They are looking for honest work and to make a profit. They are not competing with anyone, and they are not causing problems for anyone.”

He makes the point that locals are not clamoring for this work.

“They are doing jobs that Saudis won’t do,” he said. “As for me, I use their help sometimes. I can’t recruit five Saudis to come to my farm outside Madinah and dig a hole in the ground or move some stuff. I get that done by recruiting these pilgrim workers. They do not charge much. Their price ranges from SR50 to SR100. Most of the work they do is construction.”

Arab News had the opportunity to meet some of the pilgrim workers and find out about this street life.

“I take advantage of coming to Saudi Arabia to do some work if possible since I am here,” said Abbas Hasan of Egypt.

“I am not planning to stay because I do not want to live as a fugitive, in fear and hunted by the Passport Department. I already have a job back home as truck driver, which pays well. I heard about the pilgrims who come to this place to do all kinds of labor — construction, cleaning or moving materials from one place to another. To be honest with you, the little money that I make here will help me during my stay and cover some of my expenses,” he said.

“There is not much work here. If you look around you, there are hundreds of people waiting for jobs,” said Ghulam Gul from Afghanistan.

“You have to be quick and run to get the job or else you’ll be left behind. The average money that I get if a day is good is SR100, or SR150 if I’m lucky enough to do two jobs,” Gul added.

Sometimes tempers flare between jobseekers.

“What I hate about this place is the ganging up we see here sometimes between nationalities,” Gul said.

“There is strong competition between us and the Egyptians or the Pakistanis and Africans. Sometimes we see big fights between people here. When a car stops with an offer of work, you immediately see some nationals trying to isolate others from the car to make sure their countrymen get the job. If the Egyptians are first to the car, then they block us; if we’re first, then we do the same and keep them out. It’s very competitive here.”

The Passport Department finds it difficult to arrest overstayers or pilgrim workers because they quickly to disappear into the neighborhoods north of Al-Salam Street.

Many Madinah residents interviewed by the Arab news did not see any threat from these pilgrim workers, and they said that they are useful sometimes because they can do manual jobs inexpensively.

To many, they are harmless, hard-working visitors. “They come for a short period of time and go back to their homes; that is why they are no threat to us,” Salem said.