Govt to pay for passage of ‘poor’ deportees

The government will soon create a fund to pay for the deportation of illegal workers who cannot afford their air fares home, a local newspaper reported.
The fund is among a raft of labor law amendments approved by the Cabinet recently, aimed at cracking down on expatriate workers violating residency and work regulations, the newspaper reported.
The report said that government would only pay deportation costs as a last resort. Those responsible for these costs include the worker's employer. If the worker has run away from his sponsor, his new employer has to fork out the money. If a worker is self-employed, he will have to pay his own transport costs.
The labor amendments include 14 items related to various categories of violations and provide severe penalties for offenders.
It covers those expats who have run away from their sponsors, are working for other people with the consent of their sponsors, have stayed over while on a Haj, Umrah or visit visa and intruders from neighboring countries. Haj and Umrah companies will be penalized if they fail to report pilgrims who have stayed in the Kingdom after completing their rituals. Employers should report absentee workers within five days.
Sources said that any employer hiring labor law violators will be denied the right to recruit foreign workers for five consecutive years.