With new rules, many expats change their minds

May 12, 2013

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Jeddah, May 12: Tens of thousands of illegal expatriate workers have registered with their consulates over the past 30 days in an effort to get an airline ticket home, consulates and embassy officials told Arab News.

An estimated 6,000 Pakistanis, 60,000 Indians, 10,000 Filipinos, 7,000 Sri Lankans and other nationalities have sought permission to leave Saudi Arabia.

Many other expats are looking to transfer their iqamas and companies seeking those workers hope for streamlined procedures from the Ministry of Labor so new employees can easily be picked up.

Adambawa Uthumalebbe, the Sri Lankan consul general, said: “The people who registered themselves with us earlier asked to go home, but since the government has now allowed the transfer of iqamas, they are coming to the consulate for that,” said Mohamed Nazmul Islam, consul general of Bangladesh. He also said that they opened registration a week ago but not many people came to register. However, yesterday people came to the Bangladesh Consulate and Embassy. Findings on the number of expats seeking aid will be announced in two weeks.

The Pakistan Consulate is already registering its citizens for iqama transfer, announcing earlier that it had received offers for the employment of Pakistani workers but that it cannot proceed without accurate information.

Iqama transfers can be made without paying fees and have been welcomed by companies and consulates.

“This is good news from the government, as it will solve many of our problems, especially the problems and concerns of the construction sector,” said Ahmed Tairq, head of a construction company. “This offers hope to end prevailing problems.”

He also said that it was difficult to find suitable workers to fit their needs.

Tolga Tamer, a finance controller, said company officials are pleased with the government’s move. The company applied for iqama transfers, three of which have been approved and six are pending.

“The transfer procedure is easy but time-consuming,” Tamer said. “It’s very slow because there is a lot of paperwork to be done.”

He also said that the hiring of Saudi nationals remains a problem because they have not been able to find qualified Saudis.

Al-Sayed Yusuf Alzenbaki, director of job affairs at MICE and an events and exhibitions organizer, said that they welcome the government’s move and that they have not faced any problems and that procedures have gone on smoothly.

Sheikh Mohiudeen, marketing manager at the Saudi Pipe Factory, said that transfer procedures are going on slowly but surely. “We know it will take time, as many people are applying for transferring their iqamas and consulates announce that they will help people find green category companies and help workers to transfer their iqamas according to the needs of the company,” Mohiudeen said.

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News Network
November 27,2024

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Gaza health authorities say Israel’s military has "erased” over 1,400 Palestinian families in the besieged territory over the past year.

The Health Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the Israeli regime "completely erased about 1,410 families, numbering 5,444 people, from the civil registry during the same period.”

It said that there were 3,463 families with only one survivor, while 2,287 families had more than one survivor.

In northern Gaza, Israel’s warplanes have continued dropping bombs over Palestinian families, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

It said one airstrike hit a family home in Jabalia, causing numerous casualties on Tuesday.

According to Gaza's civil defense agency, at least seven people were killed and several others wounded in the attack.

Another person was killed in a strike on a house in nearby Beit Lahia, a town in northern Gaza, which has been declared “a disaster area" by the municipality due to "the Israeli war of extermination and siege, and it has no food, water, hospitals, doctors, services, or communications."

The health ministry said, “Israeli forces killed 14 people and injured 108 others in three massacres of families in the last 24 hours.”

“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them.”

International organizations and leaders believe that Israel’s genocidal war, now in its second year, is a deliberate attempt to destroy the population of Gaza.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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News Network
November 17,2024

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An Israeli airstrike on the office of Syria’s Baath party in Lebanon’s capital Beirut has killed the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah's Media Relations Officer, Mohammad Afif, reports say.

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli raid struck the Ba'ath party’s building in central Beirut district of Ras Al-Naba'a on Sunday, adding that the strike was an attempt to assassinate the leader of the resistance media front.

According to Baath Secretary-General Ali Hijazi, Afif was having a meeting in the Baath Party headquarters when Israel carried out the attack.

"Afif did not fight with weapons and did not lead a military unit in Hezbollah. Rather, he led a media unit," he said.

Reuters, Sky News, Al Jazeera and a number of Henrew-language media reported that Afif was killed in the Israeli strike.

However, Hezbollah has not yet confirmed Afif’s death or whether he was present at the site or not.

Earlier, the Lebanese Health Ministry said at least one person was killed and three others injured after an Israeli strike targeted a central district in Beirut.

Lebanon's al-Mayadeen television network reported that five people were killed in the attack.

The latest development came after Afif said Hezbollah was behind the Caesarea operation and targeting Netanyahu’s home during a speech at the Ghobeiry area in the southern suburbs of Beirut on October 22.

This was the second assassination attempt on Afif in the last two months, after he survived an attack on the Hezbollah media relations office several weeks ago.

Israel launched a ground assault and massive air campaign against Lebanon in late September after a year of exchanging fire across the Lebanese border in parallel with the Gaza war.

At least 3,287 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the past year, with the vast majority in the past seven weeks. Another 14,222 have been wounded, mostly women and children.

In response to the ongoing aggression, the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has been staging hundreds of retaliatory strikes against the occupied Palestinian territories and the Israeli forces trying to advance on southern Lebanese areas.

The movement has vowed to sustain its strikes until the regime ends the escalation.

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