A Filipino worker group, Migrante, has asked the Saudi government to extend its three-month grace period, ending July 3, for workers to rectify their status, arguing that there is not enough time to process the paperwork of thousands of workers.

Migrante Middle East and North Africa coordinator John Leonard Monterona said yesterday that all the affected embassies are in the same position.

“With such huge numbers of ‘illegal’ migrants, all wanting to legalize their status or leave the Kingdom without any penalty, and considering the tedious process they go through, the 90-day grace period is not enough. Giving an extension is justified and reasonable,” said Monterona.

He said there are an estimated 1.2 million illegal workers in the Kingdom, mostly from India, Pakistan, Egypt, the Philippines and Bangladesh.

Monterona said he had communicated on May 31 with an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, confirming that the DFA had already sent a request to the Saudi envoy to the Philippines, Abdullah Al-Hassan, to extend the grace period.

In reply, the Saudi envoy assured the DFA official that he would convey the request to the Saudi government, said Monterona.

“We suppose that by now, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh has already sent its request or made representations to appropriate Saudi authorities asking for an extension to the 90-day grace period,” Monterona added.

Monterona said that workers are becoming increasingly fearful that they would not make the deadline to fix their status. He said “some have resorted to forging their documents, and this has caused chaos at various Passport Department offices.”

“We join the calls by the Philippine government and other (labor-exporting) governments to the Saudi government and direct our appeal to King Abdullah to consider providing an extension to the 90-day grace period that will end on July 3 for humanitarian considerations,” Monterona added.

Citing news reports, Monterona said the Saudi Labor Ministry does not favor extending the grace period.

In mid-April this year, the Saudi authorities led by the Labor Ministry cracked down on undocumented and overstaying expatriate workers by rounding them up at their workplaces and homes.

Hundreds of illegal workers were apprehended. However, after an appeal from the public and private sectors Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah ordered a halt to the crackdown and instead gave a 90-day grace period to let all migrants legalize their status or leave the Kingdom without any penalty.

Monterona said the Saudi government was "serious about cleaning up the Kingdom of overstaying and illegal migrants" and to create jobs for its people. Labor Ministry spokesman Hattab Al-Enazi said recently that the grace period was based on a royal decree and that only another royal decree could extend it.