JEDDAH — The Ministry of Labor has established a special department to deal with crimes of human trafficking. "The department will liaise with the authorities concerned to protect workers from maltreatment, exploitation, cheating as well as violation of human and vocational rights," director of the department Majed Al-Shihri said. He said the department will endeavor to increase social awareness about the perils of trading in recruitment visas which is the main cause for the presence of illegal expatriates who jeopardize public security and spread crimes. "The department will support the victims by advising and briefing them about their rights guaranteed by the labor law," he said. Al-Shihri said the department will try to create a conducive working atmosphere that will protect human and vocational rights of workers. "It will also train the ministry's male and female inspectors on how to promptly discover cases of human trafficking and how to deal with them," he added. Al-Shihri explained that the various forms of human trafficking include arranging for the escape of housemaids to make extra money. "The law against human trafficking covers crimes of coercing, threatening, deceiving or kidnapping," he said. The director said the law also forbids anyone from exploiting workers or making them do any job by force. He said the ministry is determined to thoroughly apply the Saudi labor law and to enforce it against human trafficking to protect employees against exploitation or unjustified retrenchment. He warned that, under the law, a human trafficker will be imprisoned for a maximum of 15 years, fined about SR1 million or given the two punishments together.
