Saudi govt detains 83 illegal Nepali workers

DOHA , NOV 11 -

As part of its nationwide crackdown on illegal migrant workers , Saudi Arabia has detained 83 Nepalis from Dammam.

The Saudi government has been arresting illegal foreigners who failed to register themselves under an amnesty scheme.

Representative of the Nepali embassy in Riyadh, Hari Prasad Ghimire, said the arrested Nepali workers are in a detention facility and that the process for their return home has been initiated.

According to an AFP report filed from Riyadh, the Saudi Labour Ministry said on Saturday it will continue to accept applications from undocumented foreign workers seeking to legalise their status, but that they will be fined for the elapsed period since the amnesty ended on November 3.

Meanwhile, around 600 Nepali migrants working in a company in Riyadh have quit their jobs, saying that their employer failed to issue visas.

The victims said more than half the Nepali migrants working in the company named Nabik had been working without visas. “Since we came here, we have been working in the company without visas. The employer assured us of the documents, but in vain,” said one of the victims, Nawaraj Karki from Dolakha.

“We could not apply for amnesty as our employer failed to provide us with visas. We are in deep trouble now,” Karki said.

Nepali ambassador to Saudi Arabia Udayaraj Pandey said the embassy has been informed of the victims’ problems and that they are in contact with the embassy.

“We will send our representatives to meet the workers if they are unable to visit the embassy themselves,” he said.