Illegal Foreign Workers
KSA plans crackdown
No more amnesty in Malaysia
The Saudi Arabian government will start a massive crackdown on illegal foreign workers after the end of the amnesty that expires on November 4.
It warned that the migrants staying illegally in the kingdom would be fined and jailed for two years after the grace period. “Over three lakh Bangladeshis have already received consular services under the amnesty. We hope the remaining ones will take the advantage before the amnesty period expires,” Emdadul Haque, labour counsellor of Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh, told The Daily Star over the phone recently.
Urging the Bangladeshi workers to take the advantage within the stipulated timeframe, the labour counsellor said they would have to face punishment otherwise.
In early May this year, Saudi authorities set July 4 as the deadline for the amnesty, allowing the illegal foreign nationals to legalise their visa status, or transfer their jobs, or return home without facing any penalty.
Later, the amnesty period was extended until November 4 following the demand of the foreign nationals.
The move came as a blessing for many Bangladeshis who had been staying in the KSA for several years without any valid documents, and were not getting any chance to get legalised.
However, some Bangladeshi migrants without any “entry documents” are still in danger, as they are not allowed either to return home or to legalise their status under the ongoing amnesty.
These migrant workers are those who ran away from their legal employers, leaving behind their passports and other documents with the employers, said the embassy officials.
As a result, these workers lack necessary documents, and thus fail to prove that they entered the country through legal channels, they added.
Emdadul Haque said a few thousand Bangladeshi workers, who went to Saudi Arabia before 2008, did not have their fingerprints recorded with the Saudi immigration department, as the mechanism was not introduced before 2008.
“We have urged the Saudi government to allow these workers to take the advantage of the amnesty by receiving temporary work permits from our consular services so that they can return home or legalise their visa status,” the labour counsellor said.
The Bangladesh foreign minister and expatriates’ welfare minister had also raised the issue during their visit to the kingdom last July, he added.
Over 1.2 million Bangladeshis are currently working in Saudi Arabia, one of the largest labour markets for Bangladesh.
NO MORE LEGALISATION IN MALAYSIA
The foreign nationals staying in Malaysia illegally will not get any more chance to legalise their jobs, as the Malaysian cabinet on Wednesday decided not to start the legalisation process again.
The cabinet committee on foreign workers and illegal immigrants made the decision at a meeting chaired by the Malaysian deputy prime minister, Malaysian English daily The Star reported yesterday.
Contacted, Mantu Kumar Biswas, Bangladesh high commission labour counsellor in Kuala Lumpur, told The Daily Star that he had not received any official notice in this regard.
“I came to know about the matter from the media. However, there is little scope for the illegal workers, who do not have any documents, to be legalised,” he added.
The Malaysian government had declared an amnesty titled “Ops 6P Bersepadu programme” for the foreign nationals to legalise their job status in 2011.
-With The Daily Star input
