Ministry completes study on replacing sponsorship system

April 3, 2012

labour

Jeddah, April 3: The Labor Ministry has completed a study on prospects of canceling the individual kafala (sponsorship) system replacing it with recruitment companies. The move may lead to the nullification of sponsorship system all together at a later stage.

The study, which took five years to complete, included the rules and regulations for the new recruitment companies. “The study will be presented to the Council of Ministers shortly for approval,” an informed source told Arab News.

The study proposed the formation of a commission under the Labor Ministry to look into foreign labor issues and put end to the traditional sponsorship system. The commission will be based in Riyadh and will have branches in major cities.

The study advised the government not to hold passports of foreign workers and cancel the condition of obtaining sponsor’s approval for a worker to bring his family to the Kingdom.

According to the new system, an employer would not be responsible for the wrong actions of a foreign worker outside his work. “The new system is designed to protect the rights of both foreign workers and employers,” the source said.

The study proposed introduction of a mandatory insurance scheme to protect financial rights of foreign workers and employers. The scheme, which may act as an effective tool to end the justification for introducing the sponsorship system, would cover the damages caused by a foreign worker, payment of unpaid salaries and provision of air tickets.

The insurance scheme will also protect employers from possible risks such as robbery, embezzlement, damages, leakage of important business information and damages caused by the worker to others.

The recruitment companies will take necessary measures for recruitment of workers required by individuals and for their journey back to their countries if they wanted so. It will also facilitate transfer of workers from one company to another, the source pointed out.

“The details of the new system would be discussed with various government departments before finalizing it,” the source said. “No date has been fixed yet to implement the new system,” he added.

Some analysts said the new system would bring only partial solution to the problem as it addresses only a group of foreign workers such as drivers, maids, private nurses and other house servants.

Khaled Aburashid, a legal expert, said the new system would benefit foreign workers. The new recruitment firms will be shareholding companies and their boards of directors will include a member from the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) to make sure they protect the rights of workers in accordance with the Labor Law.

However, NSHR officials feared that the new system would bring only structural changes. The sponsorship system was introduced in the Kingdom about 60 years ago in 1371H and the world has changed a lot during this period, including labor rules.

Dr. Hussein Al-Sharief, president of NSHR, urged the government to take into consideration an 80-page study prepared by his organization on the cancelation of the sponsorship system correcting the relationship between the worker and employer. “Our study has taken into consideration the rights of both workers and employers,” he pointed out.

Some aspects of the present sponsorship system go against the Shariah and contradict international agreements related to human rights, Al-Sharief said, citing matters such as holding passports of foreign workers by the employer and the difficulty in transfer of sponsorship from one employer to another.

The Council of Ministers issued a decision No. 166 in 1421H calling for organizing the relationship between the foreign worker and employer within the framework of a work contract. It emphasized the need to replace sponsorship and sponsor with work contract and employer in the residency and labor laws. Although the Cabinet adopted the decision eight years ago many government departments still have not yet implemented it. This delay has affected the Kingdom’s international reputation and triggered a lot of complaints from foreign workers.

There are about eight million foreign workers from 120 countries in the Kingdom.

Sharief Awad Al-Hobailey, CEO of Jeddah Center for Law and Arbitration, said wrong implementation of the existing sponsorship system was the reason for many problems. “If the sponsor and the foreign worker had abide by its rules the picture would have been different and much better,” he added.

Ahmed Al-Yahya, a former ministry undersecretary and an expert in labor issues, said the International Labor Organization (ILO) criticized the sponsorship system in Gulf countries with regard to workers’ rights. “We should study legal, security and social aspects before taking a decision to cancel the sponsorship system,” he said.


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News Network
March 21,2020

Mar 21: Qatari authorities arrested 10 nationals for breaking home quarantine rules as Doha tightens regulations amid the coronavirus outbreak, local daily The Peninsula Qatar reported on Saturday.

The Ministry of Public Health released a statement naming the detainees and said that the violators were currently being referred to prosecution.

The tiny country, where expatriates comprise the majority of the population, on Thursday reported eight more infections to take its tally to 470, the highest number among the six Gulf Arab states that have reported a total of more than 1,300 coronavirus cases.

Government spokeswoman Lulwa Rashed Al-Khater told a news conference the new cases included two Qataris who had been in Europe, with the rest migrant workers.

Qatari authorities on Tuesday announced the closure of several square kilometers of the industrial area in Doha, the capital, which also contains labor camps and other housing units.

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News Network
May 3,2020

Jeddah, May 3: Saudis and expats who spread rumors on social media could be jailed for up to five years and fined SR3 million ($800,000) under measures to counter false information regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

The move follows warnings by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health, Ministry of Interior, General Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques and other government entities that people should rely on trusted news sources and not third parties for information on the Kingdom’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Saudi Public Prosecutor warned that legal action will be taken against individuals who spread misinformation and rumors.

On Saturday, media spokesman for the Riyadh region police, Col. Shakir Al-Tuwaijri, highlighted a video circulating on social media in which a person spreads rumors about steps taken to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Other false claims include a planned change in curfew hours, warnings of food shortages, and a suggestion that health authorities are deliberately concealing the number of cases in the Kingdom.

In a recent case, a Riyadh resident claimed to know when worshippers will be allowed to return to the Grand Mosque.

All suspects have been arrested and face legal action, police said.

Dimah Al-Sharif, a Saudi legal counsel and member of the International Association of Lawyers, urged people to be responsible regarding content they access on social media.

“Receivers should not save such content or share it with others, and should delete it if possible since they, too, will be liable,” she said.

“Under Saudi laws to counter cyber-crime, we are not allowed to produce, prepare, send or save any unauthorized content or rumors.”

Individuals who breach regulations can be jailed for up to five years and face fines of SR3 million, as well as confiscation of the device(s) used in the crime, she said.

In addition, the judicial ruling will be published in newspapers at the offender’s expense.

The Kingdom’s Public Prosecution Office took to social media to warn users about the consequences of spreading rumors and misinformation.

@bip_ksa tweeted: “Receiving information from its official sources is a moral obligation and commitment, and legal responsibility. Do not fall victim to malicious rumors and news from anonymous sources that violate the procedures and effort, and cause terror regarding the Coronavirus, in order to avoid strict criminal accountability in this regard.”

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Agencies
July 5,2020

Iraq’s deputy parliament speaker Hassan Karim al-Kaabi on Saturday described the move as provocative and in violation of international law.

Kaabi also called on the Iraqi government to take swift measures to halt such actions.

The Embassy’s move to fire in a residential area in the heart of Baghdad is an unacceptable act and another challenge for the Arab country, adding to the mass of its provocations and illegal actions in Iraq, he noted.

According to Iraqi media, the US tested a patriot missile system inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone.

Anti-US sentiments have been running high in Iraq since Washington assassinated top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and the second-in-command of the Iraqi popular mobilization units, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in January.

Following the attack, Iraqi lawmakers unanimously approved a bill on January 5, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign troops.

Baghdad and Washington are currently in talks over the withdrawal of American troops. Iraqi resistance groups have vowed to take up arms against US forces if Washington fails to comply with the parliamentary order.

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