Om Astha Rai

As a six-month amnesty announced by Saudi Arabia for illegal workers ends, the fate of thousands of Nepali migrants -- who are overstaying their visas -- hangs in the balance.

Paras Ghimire, the first secretary at the Nepali Embassy in Saudi Arabia, says that the fate of all illegal Nepali workers -- who failed to return home during the amnesty period -- will be decided only after the Saudi government takes a new decision to this effect. As of now, according to Ghimire, the Saudi government has not decided what kind of penalty will be meted out to the defiant illegal workers.

“The Saudi government has not decided to take action against defiant illegal workers so far,” Ghimire told Republica, adding, “However, it may extend the amnesty period as thousands of illegal workers are still there. It will not be practically possible to take legal action against thousands of illegal workers at once.”

In an attempt to wipe out all illegal workers from its soil, Saudi Arabia had announced an amnesty for them on September 23 last year. The six-month amnesty period ended on March 23. However, only 5,000 illegal workers -- five per cent of the total number of Nepali migrants overstaying their visas in Saudi Arabia -- obtained travel documents to return home.

According to foreign employment agencies, more than 500,000 Nepalis are working in Saudi Arabia. Of them, Ghimire said, around 100,000 have been working there even after their visas expired. However, a majority of them did not approach the Nepali embassy to return home, taking advantage of the amnesty.

Most of the illegal Nepali workers, according to Ghimire, did not contact the embassy. “Seemingly, it was a six-month-long amnesty. However, illegal Nepali workers got only three months,” Ghimire said. “It is because when Saudi Arabia announced amnesty in September, it was meant for only those who entered Saudi Arabia on visit visas.”

Nepali illegal workers were not “huroobs” -- a termed used by Saudi Arabians to call those who hide to work after reaching there on visit visas. It was only after the embassies of various countries, mainly India and Bangladesh, pressed for including other types of illegal workers that the Saudi government decided to grant amnesty to overstaying workers in December. “We got too little time to disseminate the information,” Ghimire said. “Many illegal workers may still be unaware of it.”

A Nepali worker -- who is currently in Jeddah of Saudi Arabia and has overstayed his visa -- told Republica over phone that they faced several hassles in approaching the embassy as they were asked to find some local Saudi national to stand surety for them. Many Saudi nationals reportedly even charged illegal Nepali workers for this.

“We have heard that the Saudi Arabian government will fine us heavily. I expect this news to be false. I hope that the Saudi government will extend the amnesty period,” he said.

Published on: 9 April 2011 | Republica