Job-profession mismatch forces many Sudanese to leave

Thousands of qualified Sudanese expatriates who are employed in various capacities including pharmacists, paramedics and accountants in the Kingdom are facing a major problem in availing themselves of the concessions under the new labor law because they hold iqamas which state they are shepherds and cattlemen.
Confirming this, Hussain Sulaiman Koya, economic adviser at the Sudanese Embassy in Riyadh, told Arab News that every day, hundreds of Sudanese nationals holding iqamas related to livestock management were approaching the country’s diplomatic missions in the Kingdom seeking change in their job status. “Most of them entered the Kingdom years ago and in some case even the validity of their passports have expired. The missions are verifying their claims and updating their details where possible,” he said.
Sudanese sources said there are thousands of their countrymen who are in no way involved in livestock management but had acquired official work permits relating to livestock, commonly known as "raayi," or Amil Tarbihat Muaashi.
Some 7,000 Sudanese with such work and profession mismatch were arrested and deported prior to the announcement of the amnesty by Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. Many qualified Sudanese expats with such iqamas are going home with the hope of returning to the Kingdom on fresh visas which conform with their profession, the sources said.
Sudanese are known as one of the most hard-working expatriate communities in the Kingdom, and many of them are employed as professors in universities, doctors and journalists in major cities besides the shepherds and cattle-grazers in far-flung and remote areas in the desert.
With their expertise in agriculture and livestock rearing and management, it is little wonder that Sudanese flocked in huge numbers to the Kingdom seeking greener pastures. In fact, the situation is such that they enjoy a major share in livestock breeding and rearing, be it in Hafr Al-Baten in the north or Jazan in the south. Most of these expatriates, hailing from Al-Jazeerah and Al-Qadarif provinces, came to Saudi Arabia on Umrah or Haj visas decades ago and stayed back. Such is their dominance in livestock management that many Saudis who are dependent on livestock have been facing stiff competition from Sudanese expatriates, particularly in cattle markets. Saudi authorities have implemented the Saudization policy in some key jobs areas of livestock management like breeders and trainers but enforcing it has not been easy because of the remote location of the farms.