THE deplorable spectacle of illegal expatriates assaulting police in Riyadh will have hardened the attitude of some toward those who have had every opportunity to regularize their position in the Kingdom. It may indeed be the case that some of the rioters had been duped or cheated by sponsors. It is almost certainly true that for many, however they got to be in the mess they have found themselves, the loss of their work and income in the Kingdom is a serious blow, not least if they have been working here illegally for many years.

Nevertheless, nothing can excuse the murderous behavior during the Riyadh riots. Those who were involved in the violence deserve the most severe punishment. There are of course, other illegal workers, who are only too happy to be rounded up and be sent home.

Thus we have seen the extraordinary development whereby for instance, the Palestinian overpass in Jeddah has become a virtual deportation center for hundreds, some say, thousands of illegal workers, who are surrendering themselves voluntarily to the authorities. This particular stratagem, which it is being said was dreamed up by Indonesians who had failed to regularize their status in the Kingdom, appears to be working.

The authorities are reportedly scooping up these willing illegals. It might be argued that if more of those who have failed to get their status in order, took this course of action, the task of the teams from the Ministry of Labor and the immigration authorities would be made considerably easier.

Yet it has to be asked how so many thousands could have failed to take advantage of the amnesty that began this April. What were the expatriates thinking of? They knew that, with the help of their embassies, they could embark upon a process whereby their existence in the Kingdom could, not invariably, but in most cases, be sorted out. Assuming that they could reach a deal with sponsors, there was a strong chance that they could continue in their work, however they had come by the jobs.

Yet it seems clear that a significant number of individuals took the view that they would ignore the whole process until the very end, and then count on the generosity of the Saudi authorities to send them home at the Kingdom’s expense. Maybe for some workers, especially in construction whose passports had been taken by their employers and not returned, this was clearly the only option. Such individuals caught up in the murky world of middlemen and deplorable exploitation, will have seen the surrender option as their sole way of escape, literally of gaining their one-way ticket home.

However, at the end of the day, whatever the reasons for these people being here with their status unregulated, an air ticket home is a small price to pay for the ending of the problem they represent.

But then we come to the other side of the coin, the unemployed Saudis who should be stepping forward to take on some, at least, of the jobs that have been abandoned by expats who, for whatever reason, had not right to be here. The governor of the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation, Ali bin Nasser Al-Ghafis announced on Monday that some 450,000 “Saudi boys and girls will be trained in different vocations over a period of five years” under a new plan. Now the TVTC is far from the only institution bringing on young Saudis for employment in the workplace. Some organizations have advanced their training programs much further, with job seekers ready to enter the workplace now.

Nevertheless, it was not good timing that the TVTC should make its announcement at the very moment that illegal workers were being rounded up and key areas of the Kingdom’s economy were reporting crippling shortages of manpower, because of the clampdown.

The unfortunate impression given by this announcement at this precise moment, that in five years time, there will be approaching half a million young Saudis trained and ready for the workplace, is that there is a serious lack of joined up thinking in official circles.

The truth is that there are many Saudis ready now to take on work that requires limited skill sets. At the sharp end, in retail, construction and manufacturing, there are few tasks that require extensive training. Common courtesy in retail, common sense in construction and manufacturing are core skills that virtually anyone can acquire. Much of the rest can come from on the job training and courses in areas such as health and safety, which the best companies provide to their workers as a matter of course.

Surely the focus at the moment, should not be on illegals who need to be thrown out the country, but on Saudis who are already able and willing to move into the jobs that have fallen empty?