The search for greener pastures is driving many workers in the Kingdom to run away from their sponsors and make a fast buck by hook or by crook. Saleem Ahmed, an Indonesian driver, who arrived in Riyadh a year ago felt the need to escape to Jeddah in search of better opportunities and earn a decent living. He gave a truck driver SR1,500 for a trip to Jeddah risking his very stay in the Kingdom. He hid himself under grass in the back of the truck and landed in Jeddah crossing four check points on the way. He had a close call when a police official at one of the checkpoints became suspicious, but for some unknown reasons the truck driver was given the go-ahead signal. “It was really scary, but nothing happened,” said Saleem. His friend, Islamudin Admun, also an Indonesian driver, ran away from Madina to Jeddah with a Saudi driver who charged him SR1,000. “We were six drivers who ran away from Madina to Jeddah with no Iqamas or driving license. We pretended to be women; it was easy and we played our part well,” said Admun, refusing to identify the Saudi truck driver. “He owned a van and asked us not to talk the whole trip; he even refused to get us water from a supermarket because he was afraid of getting caught,” Admun said. Rajika Aloy, a Bangladeshi maid who made her way to Makkah from Taif, escaped in a cargo truck inside a wardrobe. “The driver was a friend of mine and he helped me in approaching people who offered me SR50 more than my original salary in Taif.” “I know that running away was a bad idea. But it was worth the adventure,” she said. The over 7.5 million foreign workers of different nationalities in the Kingdom are not allowed to work without a Saudi sponsor, who typically provides accommodation and pays travel expenses, including a trip to their hometown every one or two years. In most cases the sponsor holds the employee's passport, and the worker can't leave the country or change his job without the sponsor's permission. Migration laws in Saudi Arabia require foreigners to have Iqamas, or permits that include the Saudi sponsor's name and the employee's job description. Residents who run away from their sponsors face imprisonment and deportation. __
