The general impression these days is that housemaids and drivers plan to run away from their sponsors the second they arrive in the Kingdom. This issue continues to evade a practical solution.
To add a new twist to this, I heard recently the strange story of an Asian driver in Jeddah who, despite his attempts to be deported, couldn’t seem to find anyone willing to arrest him.
The driver’s sponsor had for years tried unsuccessfully to find a satisfactory driver. Too many times, the Saudi wasted money and effort playing by the rules and getting a proper driver through legal channels. Finally the man resorted to hiring an Asian who did not have his legal papers worked out. It was a cheap and easy arrangement and the driver turned out to be very dependable and conscientious.
For two years the driver worked for this family illegally. The Saudi decided it was time to make his loyal driver a legal worker. And here’s where the trouble began.
The Saudi went to a recruitment agency and was willing to pay the money required to get his driver’s documents in order. The agency said they couldn’t help him until the driver was deported from the country. Only then, the agency said, could they make arrangements to bring the man back legally.
Their advice? Send the driver to the streets looking for immigration authorities to arrest and deport him.
Despite the oddity of this so-called solution, it turned out to be easier said than done. The Saudi man even utilized a little “wasta” through associates he know at the Directorate General of Passports, the authority involved with immigration control. He asked his connections to be gentle on his Asian driver and then sent the worker to the streets with a suitcase. The worker wandered the street for the full day yet nobody with any authority stopped him and asked for his papers.
The Saudi was then tipped off to a particular overpass popular among undocumented migrants searching for work. Apparently it was also popular with immigration officials seeking a quick bust. The worker spent an entire day lingering at this spot to no avail. Once again nobody with any authority paid him any mind. At this point, the worker was getting a little tired of wandering the streets trying to get deported.
The employer decided to alter his strategy a bit. This time instead of sending his undocumented driver out looking for anyone of authority willing to detain him, he concocted a new plan: he would file a formal complaint against this dependable, hard-working expat driver. The complaint would be filed and, finally, some paperwork might fly into action to get the driver deported — all so the driver could re-enter the country as a legal worker at considerable expense on his sponsor’s behalf.
