Days after Saudi Arabia announced new plans to ease foreign workers’ contractual restrictions, Islamabad’s ambassador in Riyadh, Raja Ali Ejaz, said the reforms will “significantly help” Pakistan nationals working in the Kingdom.
The Kingdom earlier this week announced to abolish a seven-decade-old sponsorship system, otherwise known as kafala, to grant foreign workers the right to change jobs and leave the country without employers’ permission. The plan, to take effect in March 2021, aims “to make the Saudi labour market more attractive,” Deputy Minister for Human Resources Majid bin Abdulrahim Al-Ghanimi said.
Responding to the development, Ambassador Ejaz told Arab News: “The reforms are expected to benefit Pakistani workers and we congratulate the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Development.”
He said the reforms were grounded in best international practices, and the new system would activate the employer-employee contractual agreement through digital documentation, which would resolve administrative glitches.
The currently applicable kafala system generally binds a migrant worker to one employer. Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have been calling on Saudi authorities to end that system which leaves workers vulnerable to abuses.
“The new initiative will alleviate the problems of those workers who sign work agreements in Pakistan and are then asked to sign another agreement in the Kingdom,” the ambassador said, adding that the new system would also help Pakistani workers search for new jobs on the expiry of their contracts while still residing in the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia, which chairs the Group of 20 major economies (G20) this year, is seeking to boost its private sector, part of an ambitious plan to diversify its oil-dependent economy.
The move will help attract high-skilled workers and help create more jobs for Saudi nationals, Sattam Alharbi, deputy minister for development of the work environment, told Reuters in a phone interview, adding that hiring would be based on workers’ efficiency.
The new initiative will base the relationship between employers and workers on a standard contract that should be certified by the government and will allow workers to apply directly for services via an e-government portal, instead of a mandatory employers’ approval.
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 reform plan is a package of economic and social policies designed to free the kingdom from reliance on oil exports.
SOURCE PAKISTANTODAY
