LAST Ramadan, we recruited a private driver from Sir Lanka. After going through medical checkups, he got his visa stamped at the Saudi Embassy in Colombo. To my surprise, the man was denied entry into the Kingdom on his arrival in Riyadh. The reason: He did not complete the number of years he was required to spend outside the country after his contract with a previous Saudi employer was terminated. When I checked with the Passport Department at King Khalid International Airport, the officer informed me that they had been struggling with the issue on a daily basis. He said they send from 10 to 15 incoming foreign workers back home for similar reasons. He said, “The solution is simple: Install fingerprinting devices in Saudi missions in countries that send workers to the Kingdom. Based on fingerprint records, workers who are not allowed to enter the Kingdom can be denied visas. End of the story.” The victims of this loose process are Saudi citizens and that is due to the incompetence of certain official institutions. One of my relatives wanted me to take up this issue as a serious matter that is distressing people. It might not be an issue of concern for many officials because neither they, nor their relatives, do suffer the consequences of such incompetence. To be fair, I contacted the director of passports to get to the bottom of things. He honestly replied he had no official figures, but admitted that this is a persistent problem created by a lack of communication between the embassies and the passport department. The passport department documents a worker's employment history in the Kingdom, especially the record of his contracts with previous employers and the time he served in Saudi Arabia in accordance with labor and immigration laws. Let us be clear. I can say without any embarrassment that 10 years ago people were optimistic about the implementation of the electronic government which they hoped will link all official institutions through a comprehensive database that will complement each others' services. We indeed enjoyed some of the blessings this change has brought about in our lives: from paying for official services to filling out e-forms and even renewing official identification cards, which in old days required multiple trips to the passport offices in Riyadh or other big cities. However, new issues arise from inefficient implementation of the e-government as if nothing has changed in the first place. Let us not just ask why? Let us also call for officials to hold people accountable. Why do we always let citizens suffer for the shortcomings of your ministry, Mr. Foreign Minister? Again, I do not expect any answer to this question like many other questions I have raised before.
