Because of Saudi Arabia’s need to recruit workers from beyond its borders, a system was set up in order to organize the process of recruitment along with other essentials involved in bringing foreigners to work in the Kingdom. A system of “sponsorship” was established whereby the person recruiting workers takes full responsibility for them, including paying them a monthly salary, obtaining residence permits for them, facilitating their departure and other such obligations.
But the current system has many flaws. The worst is when the worker runs away from his sponsor in order to look for other employment — either for more money or because of misunderstandings between the worker and the employer. The system needs to be reevaluated and reassessed so that the disadvantages that work against both the worker and the employer can be corrected.
The National Society for Human Rights did a great job in holding a lecture entitled “Citizens and Workers’ Rights in the Light of Sponsorship: Problems and Solutions” recently at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. It is assumed that the Ministry of Labor proposed through the lecture its directions to enhance the governmental role in relation to sponsorship transfer.
It means that the mechanism of sponsorship should be implemented through a governmental body when the worker fulfills his contract’s time with the sponsor and wishes to remain in Saudi Arabia to work for a different sponsor, according to a statement made by Muhammad Al-Doaish, director of legal affairs in the ministry. But this system is implemented only when the worker adheres to the rules and regulations and governmental systems. The idea is to solve some problems that happen between the worker and the sponsor, especially when the contract between them ends.
Working toward solving the sponsorship system or parts of it to avoid the recurrence of problems is really important, especially regarding runaways.
Runaway workers not only violate the law but they are illegally in the country and then join the Haj and Umrah overstayers in creating additional social, economic and security problems.
Thus, we need more lectures and studies that will open new horizons in finding solutions that contribute to developing the system and creating a better and more efficient system that serves the best interests of both the worker and the employer.
