An expatriate doctor who tried to obtain a travel permit to attend sessions before the Higher Commission for the Settlement of Labor Disputes in Riyadh was surprised by his pre-deportation arrest because he was accused of working for someone other than his sponsor. Fahd Al-Shammari, Director of the Labor Office in Makkah Region, confirmed that the doctor's complaint against his sponsor is being investigated by the Higher Commission for the Settlement of Labor Disputes in Riyadh. He added that the doctor had been informed of the date set for the session. Al-Shammari, who said the Labor Office has a representative in a Deportation Administration Committee, pointed out that the man cannot be deported after filing of the case. Iman Abul Ainain, the expatriate doctor's wife, said the Labor Office's representative at the Deportations Administration has falsely accused her husband of working illegally, which led them to take him into custody. “My husband works with his sponsor in a private polyclinic and he has a permit from the Ministry of Labor allowing him to work anywhere he wants, due to a dispute between him and his sponsor that is being looked into by the Higher Commission in Riyadh,” she said. “The regulations in this regard are known and clear.” The doctor's wife, who confirmed that there was a letter from the Labor Office directing that her husband be deported, at his sponsor's request, described the Labor Office representative accusing her husband as “arbitrary.” Iman Abul Ainain, who said her husband is a legal resident in the Kingdom and working according to regulations and directives, is demanding urgent formation of an investigation committee to solve her husband's crisis and quickly release him so that he could pursue his case against his sponsor.
