In Saudi Arabia and the UAE, amnesty had been announced for the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who have entered the country and are currently under illegal status. The authorities issued the amnesty promising no punishment for illegal residents who turned themselves in.
Both the Kingdom and the UAE want to proceed against those who are in violation of the labor law or who are working illegally and those who employ them.
Most of those classified as illegal come from the lesser-privileged Asian countries. Generally the illegal migrant falls under one of three categories: First, those who have their passports and money but face exit problems due to unresolved debts or other snags; second, people who have passports but have overstayed their visas and have no money, seeking a free ticket to fly home at the expense of the host government; third, those who have neither the money nor identification papers.
“This third category is the most problematic group,” said the Indian consul general in Jeddah. “We need to interview them to ascertain their nationality. Just because somebody speaks Urdu, or Tamil, or Hindi, or Bengali doesn’t mean they are Indians. It is a security issue. We don’t want just anybody to enter our borders through this system.”
The consul general admitted that in the final analysis the problem is humanitarian in nature. “But one shouldn’t forget that all these people have violated Saudi law by coming here on an Umrah visa with the intention of working here and then disappearing,” he said.
“We should thank the Saudi authorities that, though the problem is so big in magnitude, they are still tackling it in a very humanitarian way. Sending planeloads of illegals free of charge is not a small thing.”
Last year, the Indian Consulate issued about 25,000 emergency certificates to its nationals so that they can leave the Kingdom. These certificates are required before deportation for those who do not otherwise have proof of identity and nationality.
In Saudi Arabia alone, some 40,000 Indonesian workers are facing deportation following the completion of an amnesty period that ended on May 31. The Saudi government earlier had announced a grace period for illegal workers to regularize their work permits and residential papers or opt to leave the country as early as possible.
In 2005 Pakistani nationals topped the list of overstayers. Nearly 60,000 Pakistanis had overstayed their visas, while the Indian figure was put at 40,000. Although the numbers may not be as high in the UAE, they are still large. According to a Pakistani Consulate official, the Pakistani government had worked to tackle the situation and control it. “They brought the number (of overstayers per year) down to 10,000, but the problem with Indians still remains.”
Unlike the UAE where amnesty would perhaps solve the problem for now, local officials are not so optimistic as hundreds of thousands enter every year with the intention of performing Haj or Umrah, and many then disappear into the mainstream in an effort to find a living. In addition to the Asians, officials have to grapple with thousands of illegals or overstayers from Africa.
This has put a huge burden on various government departments who do not have the capacity to deal with such large numbers. Additionally, the amnesty period falls during the summer season when airlines do not have the seating capacities to accommodate such large numbers.
One way of dealing with the problem would be the strict enforcement of laws already in statute books. Besides fining those who have overstayed, hefty fines and imprisonment should be handed out to those who violate labor laws by employing illegal workers.
Perhaps if arrests are indeed made and publicized, the problem would eventually go away.
