Middle East

Jeddah, Sep 2: The Haj Ministry website has started accepting applications from Saudis and expatriates who wanted to make use of the low-cost Haj scheme. More than 40,000 pilgrims are expected to benefit from the low-cost Haj scheme this year, said Abdul Hameed Al-Sinani, secretary general of the Coordination Council for Domestic Haj Service Firms. Speaking to Arab News, Al-Sinani said 53

Jeddah, Sep 1: The Labor Ministry has slapped fines worth more than SR10 million on companies after its inspectors found 62,762 labor rule violations during raids carried out over the past nine months. In a report published Sunday, the ministry said its officials conducted more than 200,000 raids to nab violators of labor regulations. The ministry caught 9,597 people working with employers other

Jeddah, Aug 30: Health authorities in Makkah have begun training their personnel, including nurses and doctors, in dealing with prevention of infection of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-CoV) during the Haj season. The infection control management and effective preventive measures are needed for such a massive gathering, said Dr. Abdul Salam Noorwali, director of the

Jeddah, Aug 29: Education Minister Prince Khaled Al-Faisal received an award of excellence from Makkah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah at a huge gathering of princes, ministers, elite and dignitaries from both the government and private sectors at the Jeddah Hilton on Tuesday. The education minister had been nominated for his work during his time as Makkah governor. “Prince Khaled played a

Jeddah, Aug 26: More than 1.3 million foreign pilgrims are expected to perform Haj this year, according to the Haj Ministry. South Asian countries will send the largest contingent of 410,000 Hajis followed by Arab countries with 250,000. About 228,000 pilgrims will come from Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia and Malaysia, while Turkey and European countries will send 190,000, non-Arab

Riyadh, Aug 25: The Ministry of Labor and the Riyadh police are setting up a joint operations team to nab labor law violators in the Riyadh region as new raids on Sunday targeted recruitment offices in Riyadh that were dealing with undocumented workers. The decision follows a meeting held in Riyadh between Abdullah Al-Olayan, director-general of the Labor Ministry’s branch office, and Capt

Riyadh, Aug 24: The Ministry of Health announced Saturday mandatory measures for Haj and Umrah pilgrims coming from countries with high rates of infectious diseases. The ministry had already sent out a circular to the Foreign Ministry, which distributed among embassies the notice spelling out health requirements prior to issuing pilgrim visas. Sami Badawood, Jeddah Health Affairs director, told

Riyadh, Aug 22: Police arrested a large number of illegal expatriates in the south of the capital in an early morning raid on Thursday under the direct supervision of Riyadh Gov. Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. According to one eyewitness, operations started immediately after dawn prayers. He said that more than 400 undocumented expatriates, including women and children living in the

Jeddah, Aug 21: Saudi authorities are getting ready to launch a massive campaign next month against more than 17,000 firms that are in the "red zone" of the Nitaqat nationalization scheme for not employing a single Saudi, Labor Ministry sources said. “There are 17,314 red-zone firms in different parts of the Kingdom that employ 241,530 foreign workers,” one source said, adding that labor officials

Riyadh, Aug 19: Many expat women are still reluctant to transfer their sponsorships from their male guardians onto their employers despite new Labor Ministry laws. Abeer Aslam, a human resources consultant in Riyadh, said many expat women just don’t have the guts to leave their comfort zone of security under their family sponsorships. “Most expat women have grown up here and cannot risk being sent