Muhammad Al-Othaim Al-Eqtisadiah I knew of a Saudi man living in a desert tent and tending livestocks who sponsor 15,000 expatriates who are not working for him. They come to see him once a year to pay his annual fee and renew their iqamas (residency permits) The Saudi employed two youths to complete the workers' procedures and expedite their paperwork at the Passport Department. The worker pays him a certain amount in addition to the official fees. He takes care of renewing the workers' iqamas and lets them loose to do whatever they want. This man is one among hundreds of Saudi sponsors who do not know where their workers are nor their field of work. They take money from them in return for their sponsorship. This disguised enterprise has resulted in 5 million expatriates whose jobs are not known, nor do they work in some fixed job. Also, they do not work in jobs for which they were recruited. Five million workers are on the loose. They exhaust the resources, like the services, health facilities, food and they affect the labor market. They compete against the lawful workers by charging lower prices, hence depriving the legal workers of a decent living. Additionally, the Passport Department campaign has resulted in the deportation of nearly 1 million illegals before the end of the period for the rectification of workers' status. This means that 1 million cars have disappeared from the roads. The same number of people have reduced the pressure on the health institutions, food resources and water, as people without jobs have left the country. They were functioning under the chaos of illegal sponsorships. I am not including the security implications, which is another key aspect. The undocumented worker can commit any crime and get away with it. I believe that undocumented or loose workers who still remain in the country are nearly the same number as those who have left. Our country under present circumstances will not rid all these overstayers. The campaign for rectification of the status of workers who are not working in the jobs they came for ought to continue. Many of these are working as shepherds, in the farms, workshops, factories and shops Kingdomwide. These places are all over the Kingdom and they require a double security effort so as to get rid of the phenomenon, which is a security breach. If the interest of the country does not concern many sponsors, then there ought to be firm measures taken against them. We do not want our country to be an open space that is violated by people from all over the world. Whoever has a job is welcome and whoever does not should leave for the place he has come from. His country is fit for him. What is commonly understood by these workers who come to the Kingdom is that they will not be working under a particular sponsor, but need a visa to do any job. Several years ago, the country was in need for such workers, but now the expatriates in the private sector are more than the citizens and the illegal residents are now a burden on the system.
