Labor reform, a smart and humane move

THE recent decision to allow illegal workers to rectify their status can be described as a just one at the very least. Indeed, the decision is a rational one given the enormity of the matter.
The government launched action against illegal residents but the king intervened and ordered a temporary halt to deportation. He gave a grace period for workers to transfer sponsorship under a new and equally just regulation.
The statistics are missing. I don’t think anyone has an accurate figure on the number of residents lacking legal permits to live and work in Saudi Arabia.
Experts estimate that there are just over six million illegal residents from different countries around the world.
Stopping the deportation of millions and giving them a chance to rectify their status did not come from a sense of legal obligation but rather, from a humane sense of justice.
The labor market is still in need of workers, but the fact remains that they continue to work illegally.
Deporting them isn’t an easy choice since such a decision carries with it unimaginable ramifications. Current resources will not be able to withstand the effects of mass deportation unless authorities decide to recruit people from every sector which will put great pressure on departments across the country.
If the government is to arrest and deport the entire illegal labor force, it would require camps larger in size than those of the Syrian refugees to accommodate them temporarily.
In fact, the authorities would need to send them back to their home countries in fleet over a period of two years.
Even then, recruitment offices would still have no choice but to hire both skilled and unskilled workers to meet their manpower requirements.
The recent decisions go beyond allowing expatriates to keep the jobs that both they and we are in need of. We can no longer ignore the flaw in labor statistics for the purpose of planning, services, security and safety. We must collate figures on the number of workers and their addresses just like any other civilized nation and base our needs on real statistics rather than estimations.
We must also admit that the millions of undocumented expatriates living in the Kingdom are due in large part to errors we have committed in the past. Surely, the tolerance and rationalism exemplified through the recent decisions will serve both the workers and society.
Such decisions will allow runaways to return to work for sponsors of their choosing for as long as they are needed.
Workers can no longer be forced to work anywhere against their will. There will not be a shortage in the labor market, as room for excuses and complaints has run out. The Ministry of Labor has the right to collect foreign labor fees from employers as long as there are millions of expatriates residing in the Kingdom.
The recent series of steps taken will end the chaos, and we await more regulatory steps for the prevention of such mistakes in future. Increasing the minimum wage for expatriates should leave them with no excuse to run away in search of a better offer. It will also encourage healthy competition and increase incentive within the Saudi labor market.
There is also a need to establish companies that will regulate manpower services and replace the brokers who took over the market and corrupted it. The current system of sponsorship must also be canceled, as proof of its failure lies in the fact that there are six million illegal workers. The introduction of manpower companies will end the crisis and protect both parties, including the state, and accountability will finally find its place within entities devoted to such issues.