The Saudi labour ministry on Wednesday proposed extension of the amnesty allowing hundreds of thousands of foreign workers who are yet to correct their status.
“The ministry has sent a cable to higher authorities advising them to extend the deadline for correcting the residency and labour status of foreign workers,” reported Arab News Friday, quoting vernacular daily Al-Watan as saying.
The move comes following requests from the diplomats from India, Pakistan, Philippines, Bangladesh, Egypt and a host of other countries. They made the calls saying that it was not possible for a large number of expatriates to be legalized during the short grace period until July 3.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni flew to the Kingdom last week to make the request in this regard.
The extension proposal by the Saudi labour ministry brings optimism among the foreign workers, including some 3 lakh Bangladeshis, who have yet to get their status regularized.
Dr Embadul Haque, labour minister of Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh, told The Daily Star on Wednesday that only 2.12 lakh irregular Bangladeshis took advantage of the amnesty until June 25.
Ibrahim Badawood, managing director of ALJ Community Initiatives, welcomed the plan to extend the deadline, saying it would help both expatriates and businesses, reports Arab News, a leading English daily of Saudi Arabia.
The flight of experienced workers will definitely affect many service firms across the country, he said.
“We cannot get rid of the mess created by unlawful practices in the past several years within a short period of three months,” Badawood said, calling for an extension of three to six months.
According to one report, about half of an estimated eight million expatriates need their status corrected and the process will take a lot of time.
The ministry has acknowledged that only 1.58 million of them have so far benefited from the amnesty.
“The extension was expected because of the huge pressure,” said Fahd Al-Hammadi, chairman of the National Committee for Contractors at the Council of Saudi Chambers.
“Everyone of us supports the correction process but the three-month grace period was not enough,” he said.
Al-Hammadi said an extension for another three months could help all foreigners to correct their status.
Rafeek Younus, vice president of Saihati Group, said, “Amnesty extension will benefit businesses as it will help them make use of the readily available experienced foreign work force.”

News courtesy The Daily star