The move will mean a lot to Burmese and other communities who have been unable to return to their home countries because of religious and political oppression.
The Nitaqat system has been introduced by the ministry to encourage the recruitment of Saudis with the ultimate goal of finding a lasting solution to growing unemployment among Saudis.
“The Ministry of Labor is currently coordinating with the Ministry of Interior to work out details of a program to train and employ members of communities staying in underdeveloped districts,” Minister of Labor Adil Fakeih said in a statement quoted by Al-Madinah daily yesterday.
The decision of the ministry follows a pledge by Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal to help certain expatriate communities.
According to a source at the ministry, the program to train expatriates living in underdeveloped districts would coordinate with private companies specialized in vocational training in line with the demands of the Saudi job market.
“The program is a humanitarian project targeting expatriate communities living in undeveloped districts,” the source added.
The development projects in such districts do not just involve construction of buildings but also carrying out humanitarian projects to improve the condition of the residents, Prince Khaled said earlier.
The Makkah province has the largest number of illegally staying foreigners because many of them arrive in the Kingdom for Haj and Umrah.
More than 38 square km in 70 districts accounting for 25 percent of urban areas in Makkah is classified as underdeveloped. Sixty districts in Jeddah are underdeveloped, accounting for 6 percent of the city’s urban area and in Taif there are 20 such districts.
The prince also called on businessmen to invest in projects that would improve the residential status of expatriates, especially those who had to flee their countries.
Burmese communities are mostly settled in districts such as Al-Nikasa in Makkah. African communities are found in huge numbers in Hosh Bakr, Schizo and Souk Al-Juma in the Mansour district and Zihreen in the Rusaifa district among others. Many of the undeveloped areas are inaccessible to SUVs. A lack of education and unemployment compounded by the illegal status of residents contribute to making some of these areas crime dens.
