I appreciate and congratulate Habib Shaikh for his views, in the readers’ column (June 18), “Expats deserve due respect” for his correct and bold response to Fadhel Albuainain’s views published a day earlier in a report, “Expats remittances likely to plummet … .”

Habib has very rightly represented views of many of the expatriates. His letter was sensible, articulate and candidly written. Fadhel is talking about the “outflow” of the millions of riyals, while ignoring the huge infrastructure and assets worth billions of dollars that have been created from the sweat of the same people.

If “Riyadh is the 19th most visited city in the world,” as reported on June 18 in Arab News, there are surely reasons for the expatriates to get a pat on their back.

The development would not have been possible without a visionary leadership that ensures a nation’s progress. And in this case the Kingdom has been extremely fortunate to have a good leadership. And it was doubtless the very part of that visionary procedure that a huge number of people were invited to the Kingdom to translate the vision into a reality. Now those workers from outside seem becoming liability though the task is far from complete and the country is constantly in need of those workers to accomplish its projects.

Despite coming here to serve the country after having left all their personal interests behind, what the expats need as human beings is some respect. Indeed, they send money back home, which is earned through hard labor but they certainly want to provide their families with the basic necessities as reward against their sacrifices and their willingness to remain separated from their dear ones for a long period.

It is the sheer hard work that these people have put in for years together, braving the harsh weather, long working hours and strange surroundings. It is not appropriate to say that the expatriates are sending hefty amount as remittances. I wish that instead of raising eyebrows Saudis should have rewarded these expatriate workers, hugged and thanked them for their contribution to the country’s development.

The sentiments expressed by Fadhel Albuainain who calculated how much these labors send money back home but failed to assess volume of work they do are enough to disappoint the expatriates who work with dedication and sincerity. — Masroor Ahmed Jameel, Jeddah