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As deadline expires, illegal foreigners queue up to leave Saudi Arabia

November 3, 2013

Gulf_Expatriates4

Riyadh, Nov 3: Thousands of illegal foreigners, mostly unskilled workers from Asia, are rushing to leave Saudi Arabia before an amnesty expires on Sunday as they risk being fined or even jailed.

Nearly a million Bangladeshis, Filipinos, Indians, Nepalis, Pakistanis and Yemenis, among others, have taken advantage of the three-month amnesty announced on April 3 and then extended for four months and left the country.

Another roughly four million have legalised their situation by finding employers to sponsor them, a must to reside in most Gulf monarchies.

But the clock is ticking, and the Saudi Labour Ministry has said there will be no second chance, despite appeals from some Asian governments.

Amnesty not to be extended

“We have absolutely no intention of prolonging the amnesty,” said Ministry spokesman Hattab al-Anzi.

Pakistan said this week that it has been pressing for an extension of the amnesty until the end of January.

Even so, its Foreign Ministry spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said: “We are trying our best to legalise as many Pakistanis as we can before the deadline ends.”

In contrast, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told AFP “we have not asked for extra time,” explaining Indians had been urged to “abide by the rules, and we have had quite remarkable success.”

Rushing through paperwork

So foreigners are queuing up outside governmental offices either to sort out the paperwork for leaving the kingdom or legalising their stays.

The Arab News daily said some Indians seeking repatriation had waited more than 31 hours outside the deportation centre in the Red Sea city of Jeddah to get the documents to leave.

The immigration department said on Thursday that “more than 9,00,000 people have left the country with final exit visas.”

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, is a goldmine for millions of people from Asia and elsewhere in the Arab world, who find work as common labourers, drivers, porters and house maids.

Expatriates account for around nine million of the country’s 27 million population.

Saudi Arabia has the Arab world’s largest economy, but the unemployment rate among natives is above 12.5 per cent, a figure the government is aiming to reduce.

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Agencies
July 16,2020

Riyadh, Jul 16: Prince Abdul Aziz bin Saud bin Naif, minister of interior and chairman of the Hajj Supreme Committee, chaired a virtual meeting on Wednesday with the heads of  security agencies and officials in charge of this year’s Hajj season.

During the meeting, the minister and security officials discussed organizational issues related to Hajj, including preventive and precautionary steps related to fighting the coronavirus disease, procedures related to pilgrims commuting to the holy sites, and mechanisms to facilitate performing the Hajj rituals.

Prince Abdul Aziz confirmed abiding by the directives of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to take all precautions to preserve the safety of the pilgrims, and facilitate their performance of their Hajj rituals, according to the highest health standards to contain the new coronavirus pandemic.

Saudi Arabia has decided to allow only a limited number of domestic pilgrims to perform Hajj this year in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Only those expatriates between the ages of 20 and 50 who are not suffering from any chronic diseases can apply for the pilgrimage.

Earlier, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said that requests from people of 160 nationalities in the Kingdom have been screened electronically to select who will perform Hajj this year.

Of the pilgrims who will receive approval, 70 percent will be non-Saudis residing in the Kingdom and the remaining 30 percent will be Saudi citizens.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior said that anyone found entering the sites of Hajj (Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat) without a permit from July 18 till the end of Dhu Al-Hijjah 12 will be issued with a fine of SR10,000 ($2,600).

The fine will be doubled if the offence is repeated. Security personnel will be posted on roads leading to the holy sites to ensure that anyone who breaks the law will be stopped and fined.

Around 2.5 million foreign and domestic pilgrims performed Hajj last year.

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News Network
July 10,2020

Dubai, Jul 10: Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan has appointed Dina Amin as CEO of the Visual Arts Commission.

She will take the lead in implementing the ministry’s vision and directions in promoting and developing visual arts in the Kingdom and empowering practitioners in the field.

Amin is a leading Saudi specialist in visual arts and the international contemporary art field. She gained a bachelor’s degree in art history and architecture from Wellesley College, in the US, and also attended a collaborative program in architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

During her career, spanning more than two decades, she has held senior positions in prominent international arts companies, including most recently Phillips, a global auction house for art, design, watches, jewels, and more.

She has also worked at Christie’s, one of the world’s most famous auction houses, employed in senior roles at the company’s international offices including New York, Dubai, and London.

The Visual Arts Commission is one of 11 new cultural bodies recently launched by the Ministry of Culture in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 reform plan to manage the empowerment and development of the Kingdom’s cultural sector. The commission will be responsible for managing and developing the visual arts sector to help achieve the ministry’s goals.

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Agencies
May 25,2020

Abu Dhabi, May 25: Dusty weather to persist in the UAE on Monday as well with a chance of rainfall in parts of the country, the national Met department reported.

According to the NCM, the weather today will be fair to partly cloudy, with a chance of some convective clouds formation by afternoon - eastward and northward - extending to some internal areas that may be associated with some rainfall.

The weather will get humid by night and Tuesday morning over some coastal areas.

NCM predicts a wet Eid break.

Sharjah Police issued a weather warning as heavy rain flooded roads in Sharjah's Kalba among other areas.

Moderate to fresh winds will gain strength during the day causing blowing dust and sand.

The sea will be slight to moderate in the Arabian Gulf and in Oman Sea.

Earlier on Sunday, a weather alert was issued by authorities as moderate to heavy rain - accompanied with hail - lashed parts of the UAE. A rainbow in Dubai skies cheered up residents, celebrating a unique Eid this year amid the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic - by mostly staying home.

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