Many sponsors exploit grace period to make extra money

April 16, 2013

Jeddah, Apr 16: A number of Saudi sponsors have taken advantage of the need of the foreign workers to rectify their status before the grace period of three months is over to ask for huge sums of money so as not to issue them a final exit visa. nitaqat

This scenario has caused over-crowdedness by workers and domestics in front of their respective consulates to find a solution for their problem or at least facilitate their travel procedures particularly since many are unable to pay the ransom which at some cases exceeded SR15,000.

The vacant lot near the Philippines Consulate in Jeddah was overflowing with male and female Filipinos forcing the traffic police to rush to the scene to organize traffic.

Some of the Filipino workers said their sponsors told them bluntly that they can no longer retain them lest they may be subjected to punishment after the grace period is over. “This is why we have rushed to our consulate to facilitate our travel back home,” said a Filipino who did not want his name to be published.

Another Filipino said the majority of them could not correct their status because they have been staying illegally in the Kingdom for several years. “Some of them have escaped from their original sponsors and were working for other Saudis,” he added.

He said the violators of the system of labor and residence will face harsher punishment if they are unable to correct their status before the termination of the grace period. “This is why they came to their consulate to find a solution to their predicament or otherwise deport them home,” he said.

Rakan Al-Ayoubi, a Saudi citizen, said he came looking for a housemaid because he and his wife are both working and their need for a domestic is pressing. He said he cannot recruit a housemaid from the Philippines or Indonesia as recruitment from these two Southeast Asian countries has been halted. “I am also afraid that the housemaid may escape and in this case the recruitment office will not refund the money I have spent on her recruitment,” he said.

He recalled that his housemaid became terrified when she came to know about the crackdown on violators by the Labor Ministry and the Passports Department.

“We woke up one day to discover that she was missing. We tried to contact her but her mobile phone was switched off. I think she must have been persuaded by one of the brokers to escape,” he said.

Al-Ayoubi said he was tired of paying large sums of money to obtain a housemaid from the black market. “We are waiting for the crucial moment when the country is cleaned of the violating foreign manpower. When the decision is fully implemented, it will rid the country of the black market and put an end to the high prices. We want to go back to the past system when a housemaid was recruited at a fixed amount of money and was paid a modest salary,” he said.

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Saudi Gazette
May 27,2020

Riyadh, May 27: Following the announcement of easing of lockdown measures, which includes reopening of all mosques for daily congressional as well as Friday prayers across the Kingdom except the holy city of Makkah, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance has set mandatory guidelines.

In a circular issued to mosque staff, Minister of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance Sheikh Abdullatif Al-Asheikh has instructed that all mosques must comply with the following precautionary measures and instructions:

1. Open mosques 15 minutes before the Adhan and close them 10 minutes after prayer

2. Reduce the waiting period between the Adhan and Iqamah to 10 minutes

3. Open windows and doors from entering time to the end of the prayer

4. Remove copies of Holy Qur’an and other books temporarily from mosques

5. Ensure attendees keep a distance of two meters between each other

6. Ensure one space is left between each row

7. Close all water coolers and refrigerators

8. Do not allow distribution of water or food in mosques

9. Close toilets and places of ablution

Precautionary measures on Friday prayers are as follows:

1. Open mosques 20 minutes before Friday prayer and closing them 20 minutes after prayer.

2. Friday sermon with prayer should not exceed 15 minutes.

The circular also stipulates to keep the suspension of the religious courses, programs and lectures, as well as the memorizing Holy Qur'an sessions in the mosques and to continue education and lectures remotely until further notice.

The circular pointed out that the imams of mosques should urge the worshipers to take the following precautionary measures:

1. Wear a face mask

2. Bring their own prayer rugs and not leave them after the prayer

3. Prevent accompanying children under 15 years of age from entering mosques

4. Perform ablution at home

5. Avoid crowding when entering or exiting mosques

Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Ministry of Interior clarified later in the day that people are allowed to perform congressional prayers in their locality during the time of curfew.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

Muscat, Jan 11: Oman's Culture and Heritage Minister, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, took oath as country's Sultan on Saturday following the demise of Qaboos bin Said al-Said, the country's government confirmed on Saturday.

Sputnik quoted a report by sultanate's Al-Roya newspaper as saying that the new Sultan " affirmed the continuation of the country's modernisation and development in various fields."

The development comes after Qaboos bin Said, who had served as the ruler of Oman since 1970, died Friday at the age of 79.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had condoled Qaboos's demise and remembered him as the "beacon of peace for India and the world". 

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News Network
July 9,2020

Dubai, Jul 9: The Government of India has announced an additional 104 special repatriation flights from the UAE to India as part of the Vande Bharat Mission, Phase 4 from July 15 - 31.

According to a flight schedule listed on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) website, national carriers Air India and Air India Express flights have been scheduled to various cities in 10 Indian states. Each flight has a capacity of 177 passengers.

Vande Bharat Phase 4 officially began on July 3, and in an earlier press briefing Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson of India's Ministry of External Affairs had said 'Phase 4 will focus on repatriation of Gulf-based Indians.

The new additional flights have been organised to cities in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Delhi, Telangana, Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Rajasthan, according to the MEA schedule. To the joy of expats from Maharashtra, at least seven flights have been planned to Mumbai, which has been a less serviced state since the start of the Vande Bharat Mission.

Consul Press, Information, and Culture, Consulate General of India in Dubai Neeraj Agarwal said, "Approximately 100 repatriation flights are planned for the next 23 days, including 50 from Dubai and Sharjah each. If all flights are full, we are looking to evacuate anything between 17,000 to 18,000 passengers in the coming days."

Booking for the newly announced flights will open soon, said Agarwal. "Some of them are already open, and others will be open in the next few days. However, a few flights are subject to slot approvals," he explained.

Commenting on the possibility of flights from India to the UAE, Agarwal said, "We express hope that this too will happen soon."  The flight schedule can be seen here: https://www.mea.gov.in/phase-4.htm

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