RIYADH — The Ministry of Labor has clarified that Burmese residents are not the only category of foreigners that will benefit from its recent directive with regard to Nitaqat calculations. Hattab Al-Enezi, spokesman for the ministry, said all categories of foreigners who are exempted from deportation would be counted as one-quarter of other expatriate workers when calculating the Saudization status in companies under the Nitaqat program. This will also include Palestinian and Turkistani communities living in the Kingdom in addition to the Burmese, he said. On Sunday, the spokesman disclosed four foreigners who belonged to these categories are equal to one foreigner from other countries when counting the number of foreigners in a firm. But reports in a section of the media indicated that the Burmese was the only community to benefit from the ministry's directive, and apparently this prompted the ministry to issue a clarification. The ministry had stipulated that the number of foreigners from these particular communities should not exceed 50 percent of the total workforce in a firm. In such cases, they will then be considered as equal to other foreigners. “The new decision is aimed at legalizing these sections of foreigners and encouraging employers to hire them instead of resorting to recruitment from abroad,” Al-Enezi added. The Kingdom earlier exempted Burmese and other expatriate communities who have been unable to return to their home countries because they would be subject to religious and political oppression back home. — SG/SPA