“They will be punished with jail term and not with any fines. These traders will also be classified as 'human traffickers',” said Kingdom's Minister of Labor Adel Fakieh while addressing an open meet with the business community at the headquarters of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) recently.
Fakieh said that his ministry has completed coordination with the Ministry of Interior with regard to prosecuting those involved in visa trade.
According to the minister, companies and firms that fall under medium green category have to approach labor office or the concerned committees under the ministry for getting employment visas.
Fakieh said the percentage of Saudization was doubled to 15.1 percent from seven percent after the Nitaqat program was implemented.
“There has also been a fall in the rate of unemployment from 12.4 percent before Nitaqat to 11.7 percent during the third quarter of 2013. After Nitaqat, the number of Saudi employees who draw a monthly salary of SR3,000 or more rose to more than one million from 356,806, the figure before Nitaqat,” he said, adding that there was 200 percent increase in the number of Saudis registered with the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) during the period.
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