Samar Yahya Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Egyptian Association of Legal Advisers held a meeting at the Egyptian Consulate in Jeddah to review their achievements during the past year that included providing free weekly legal consultations and raising awareness about Saudi labor regulations. The association, founded a year ago, is the first such organization licensed by the consulate and provides legal support to the Egyptian community. The association uses different methods of communication such as a dedicated Facebook page, email and phone to make announcements and receive and answer questions and queries. The organization provides free legal consultations once a week at the consulate, the meeting was told. The association also organized a leisure trip and several social gatherings to bring together many of its members and forge closer ties among families. Working hard to minimize problems and maintain good bilateral relations, the association held a lecture on Saudi labor regulations that aimed to raise legal awareness among the community on their duties and rights while in the Kingdom. The association also played a role in advising Kingdom-based voters on the documents and procedures they needed to follow during the first parliament and Shoura Council elections held at the consulate after the recent revolution in Egypt. Head of the association Mohammed Badr said: “We are proud that the association was founded prior to the elections and that we had a role in helping and advising the Egyptian community here in Jeddah before and during the parliament, Shoura and presidential elections and constitutional referendum as well." The association maintained direct communication with electoral authorities in Egypt to facilitate voting procedures for Egyptians living abroad and said it helped convince them to allow expatriate Egyptians to vote using their passports and not necessarily their ID cards. Legal advisers also prepared a guidance booklet for Egyptians coming to work in Saudi Arabia, with an introduction to the Kingdom, the country's employment rules and regulations and the duties and rights of employees, and sent this booklet to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for distribution. Other initiatives included helping to draft laws protecting Egyptians abroad and also encouraging expatriates to deposit US dollars into Egyptian banks to help the country's economy.
