IT is extremely discomforting that two weeks have passed since the three-month grace period sanctioned by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to expatriates to correct their status and the ministries of labor and interior have yet to announce the mechanism of correction so that the foreigners will avail of this opportunity to rectify their situations. The grace period will terminate on July 5, 2013 (Shaaban 26). Every passing day means we are depriving the foreigners of the opportunity gracefully granted to them by the King. The grace period has become the sole right of the foreigners, and nobody should deny them this right. The extension of the period will not be a remedy for the slowness and delay by these ministries. The royal directives are sacred. Therefore they should not be subjected to extension just because the parties entrusted with their implementation are slow in responding regardless of any justification. To begin with, the passport department's campaign was squinted. It did not see properly. It avoided targeting the overstayers and infiltrators and instead focused on foreigners not working for their original sponsors. They have left the “very dangerous” and went after the “dangerous”. I hope that the mechanism of correction will be implemented swiftly and be fair and encouraging to make the royal decision a success.
