Egyptian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Afeefi Abdul Wahab has said that more than 120,000 Egyptians benefited from the general labor amnesty.
He said that around 40,000 Egyptian workers had left the Kingdom for good, through the embassy in Riyadh and the consulate in Jeddah, and more than double this number were able to correct their status by transferring to new sponsors.
“These are approximate figures based on the number of people who turned up at the Egyptian missions during the grace period. The number of Egyptians living in the Kingdom, including workers and their families, is estimated to be between 1.8 and 2 million,” he said.
“We will not ask for an extension of the grace period. Six months is more than enough for all expat workers to normalize their status in the Kingdom. Those who failed to do so during the first extension were able to rectify their status in the second extension period,” he said.
The ambassador said he believed that violations committed by Egyptian labor were on account of their lack of understanding of Saudi labor law and work regulations. “Many of them came to the Kingdom on ‘free visas.’ When they arrived at the Kingdom, their sponsors let them work for any party they chose to. When the amnesty was announced, they got the opportunity to correct their status,” he said.
“The Egyptian missions in Riyadh and Jeddah were very busy, and there were great numbers of applicants. There was cooperation between us and the Ministry of Labor, as well as the Passport Department, to minimize the difficulties and address the challenges involved. The numbers were large in the beginning, but they tended drop later. However, I expect them to come in larger numbers in the coming days,” he said.
Adel Fadl, labor adviser at the Egyptian Embassy in Riyadh, earlier said that the number of Egyptian applicants seeking to correct their status will be high immediately after the Eid holidays, because many were busy performing Haj.
“During the past six months, we held three open forums in cooperation with the Egyptian Welfare Fund and professional societies for Egyptians who were willing to correct their status. We were able to secure 10,000 jobs in various sectors including contracting, sales, education, accounting, drivers and other fields.”