JEDDAH: The Passport Department announced on Tuesday that it had fined a Saudi businessman SR600,000 for employing 60 illegal foreigners, or SR10,000 for each worker. The department did not name the businessman but said it has also suspended his commercial license. The source revealed that about 700 to 800 decisions were issued over the past four months imposing fines on Saudis who employed or covered up illegal labor. He added that 35,000 foreigners are deported every month for violating labor law. The system of fingerprinting, which has been introduced in all the Kingdom’s air, sea and land inlets, has helped uncover a number of violating expatriates who have either escaped from their sponsors or have committed criminal acts, he added.
