Major contractors in the Kingdom are requesting the government to extend the July 3 deadline to Nov. 4 (Muharram 1, 1435) so that more foreign workers will get enough time to correct their status.
“There are huge numbers of workers still waiting for their turn to correct the status and the remaining few days will not be enough to handle them,” said Abdullah Ridwan, chairman of the contractors committee at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He appealed to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to extend the deadline until Muharram 1 of the next Hijrah year.
Ridwan’s call comes amid expectations among the Kingdom’s diplomatic circles that the deadline might be extended. Faisal Al-Oqail, spokesman of Mawad Emar Holding Co, said the present amnesty period would be inadequate to correct the status of a large number of workers.
The Labor Ministry, meanwhile, piled pressure on foreign workers and warned that it would impose fines and jail sentences against illegals after the July 3 deadline. About 90 percent of work can be carried out through the ministry’s electronic services, said a spokesperson.
About 200,000 Yemenis have been deported during the amnesty period. “More than 1,000 Yemenis leave the Kingdom daily by bus,” said Taha Al-Humairy, chairman of the Supreme Coordination Council for Yemenis in the Kingdom.
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