According to them, the number, which peaked in 2008, has declined during the last six months of this year. They give credit to factors such as the system of fingerprinting and stricter Umrah rules.
An executive of a foreign airline, which regularly carries passengers from the deportation center in Jeddah, said his company was losing up to 35 percent of its business on this account. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the trend started earlier this year with less demand from the deportation center every passing month.
Executives of other airlines made similar claims. This was also confirmed by an Indonesian diplomat. Indonesians top the list of overstayers in Saudi Arabia in number.
Cahyono Rustam, consul at the Consulate General of Indonesia in Jeddah, said only 20,000 one-way passports were issued by his mission in 2009 against 24,000 in 2008.
“Going by the monthly record we can say that this year the figure is likely to be further down,” he maintained. Cahyono attributed this to “the new identification system and stricter regulation for Umrah pilgrims.”
According to him, runaway Indonesian maids and drivers camping at various places portray a very bad image of his country.
“We try to resolve the issue sooner than later. For this we seek cooperation from all sides, including the Saudi employers,” he said.
Cahyono said his government was keen to change the general perception that Indonesia’s work force consists only of maids and drivers.
“We hope to see our skilled and semi-skilled workforce employed in Saudi Arabia,” he said. “Our government is working in that direction.”
In December 2009, an Indonesian delegation toured the Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, for this purpose. Jakarta has identified nine sectors in which skilled and semi-skilled labor could be sent to Saudi Arabia.
