01 April 2005 – Philippine Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) Bahnarim A. Guinomla today reported that OFWs in the Kingdom scored a major victory when the Saudi Ministry of Labor called on Saudi employers not to force their expatriate employees to pay for their labor visas, resident permits, re-entry visas and sponsorship transfers.

In a report to Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto Romulo, Ambassador Guinomla said the Saudi Labor Ministry has declared said that “forcing expatriates to pay the said fees (labor visas, resident permits or iqama, re-entry visas and sponsorship transfers) constitute a violation of a Cabinet decision adopted eight years ago and would be punishable under the law.”

Ambassador Guinomla emphasized that this statement is very important not only for OFWs but for the many other nationalities who work as expatriates in KSA.    He said OFWs have been complaining about such violations by their Saudi employers, especially those who force OFWs to pay the iqama fee, which alone costs about US$200.

The Department notes that this recent statement is a victory for the Philippine Embassy that lobbied  a few months back to prohibit employers from forcing their foreign workers to shoulder these fees.   The Department thanked the Saudi Government for this statement and assured that it will continue to work closely with the concerned Saudi authorities for the welfare and well-being of OFWs.

According to Ambassador Guinomla, the Labor Ministry Statement warned that violators of the policy would be punished under the law and, in order to ensure enforcement, has set up a special department to protect the rights of expatriate workers against abuse.  Earlier, Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Ghosaibi assured Ambassador Guinomla that he was going to create a special department in his office to handle expatriate cases.

It may be recalled that the Philippine Embassy recently rescued two Filipina workers being maltreated by their Saudi Lady employer (for details, please official DFA press release no. SFA-AGR-125-05 dated 03 March 2005).  The Embassy’s success in rescuing Ms. Michaela delos Santos and Ms. Iluminada Curioso earned praise from the diplomatic community and even prompted Saudi authorities to encourage all expatriate workers to report any incident of abuse or maltreatment so that the Saudi government can act on it.  END
 

/jay