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For those of you out there who are not familiar with Saudi rules and regulations, let me give you a brief insight into the Saudi sponsorship system. All expatriates working in Saudi Arabia require a kafeel or a sponsor. It is the sponsors responsibility to obtain a valid iqama ( resident permit ) for the employee. Once the expatriate is issued with the iqama, he/she hands over their passport to the sponsor for safekeeping. Each time an expatriate wishes to travel outside Saudi Arabia, they need to apply for an exit/ re-entry visa from the passport office after receiving approval of leave by the department head.
Only some nationalities are allowed to apply for a multiple exit/ re-entry visa which is valid for a maximum of six months. If an expat is working for a huge organization, like the hospital I work for, then of course I do not really encounter any issues or problems as a passport office is located on the hospital premises.The department secretary usually makes sure that all visas and iqama renewals are processed on time. The biggest flaw in the sponsor system arises when cheap labourers arrive in Saudi Arabia from Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Philippines. Many of these employees have private sponsors and hence are easy prey for abuse and oppression.
On numerous occasions, employers withhold employee passports and fail to pay salaries that were initially discussed. In this case the entire sponsorship system is a form of modern day slavery.
A totally outdated, backward system that has no place within Islam. A few days prior to traveling to South Africa, I met a friend of mine for coffee. She was highly distressed. She is originally from India and her husband is from Pakistan. Her husband needed to travel to India urgently but was unable to do so has he first needed to renew his iqama prior to traveling. His Saudi sponsor passed away nine years ago and so the sponsors eldest son now became his kafeel (sponsor). This Saudi gentleman did not inform the relevant authorities of his fathers death and hence when the employee went to renew his iqama at the passport office he was told that it can only be done once the Saudi sponsor pays a fine of SR9000. After being informed about the outstanding fine, the Saudi gentleman told the Pakistani man that he does not have the money to pay for the fine and hence if the gentleman is really desperate to travel to India he should pay the SR9000. In another incident, an entire family residing in Medina has been destroyed due to the sponsorship system. The family arrived in Saudi Arabia 40 years ago from the Kandahar region in Afghanistan. The father worked as a cleaner at the Prophets mosque. After years of saving money, he opened up a small shop. With time his business began to flourish and his family grew as well. All ten of his children were born in Medina tul Munawwara. In fact despite their roots being Afghani, the kids behave like proper Saudi children. When I met this family for the first time a few months ago I initially thought that they were Saudis until they related to me their entire life story. They arrived in the Kingdom legally and had a Saudi sponsor. One day, this sponsor disappeared without any trace and hence their iqamas expired. Despite finding another kafeel they could not get their iqamas renewed without the written permission of the initial sponsor.The Saudi government deported the entire family back to Afghanistan. Overnight, they lost their home and business in Medina. Naturally the kids and the family could not adjust to a new foreign country. It was the first time that the children set foot on Afghani soil.They knew no other way of life other than the lifestyle they grew up with in Saudi Arabia. After a few years, the eldest son returned to Saudi on a valid iqama. Within a few months he called his family to Saudi Arabia on an Umra visa. Naturally his family needed to return to Afghanistan. But how could they return. Kandahar was invaded by American troops. Their family home was invaded as well and of course destroyed. They had no home to return to. The family continued to stay in Medina but have now become illegal depsite the fact that they have found a new Saudi sponsor who is willing to make their stay in the country legal. The eldest son has been from pillar to post trying to legalize his family's status within the Kingdom. Due to their illegal status only the one son works and has a valid iqama. The two eldest daughters of the house can not get married and this has created lots of tension for the parents of the home. Due to stress and worry, the father of the house has developed hypertension and diabetes. It is systems like these that cause many expats to develop hatred for Saudi Arabs. If Muslims can oppress Muslims then why should we be condemning the West. Why should we be standing up to western countries oppressing Muslims when fellow Muslims are oppressing each other. It is 2013, the days of slavery and barbarism are over. Surely, other systems can be put into place to ensure that no crimes or atrocities are committed by expats residing within the Kingdom. Having a Saudi sponsor act as a policeman is not the answer towards bridging kind and friendly relationships between the native Arabs and expats. There are many families out there who wish to legalize their status within the Kingdom but fail to do so due to the red tape and bureaucracy. This in turn opens up the doorways of corruption. Many families hand over thousands of riyals to individuals who claim that they can obtain valid iqamas and sort out their problems. These shady characters then disappear after receiving the money. Then, there are families out there who have obtained valid legal iqamas due to the wasta system. If a person is acquainted to a Prince or a high ranking government official, then naturally this individual would obtain an iqama within a matter of a few days. I always wonder if the Prophet Muhammed (saw) was alive, how would he feel or react to such laws and regulations that oppress rather than unite. Abu Metab ( King Abdulla) has done a lot for his people and in particular for Saudi women. I salute him for all his efforts during his reign. Recently, he has been ranked as the seventh most influential man in the world and the most powerful man within the Arab world. Surely with his power, he can eradicate this backward, outdated sponsorship system and grant refugee status to people like this Afghani family. There are thousands of legitimate cases in Saudi that need to be addressed. Many of these individuals are afraid of seeking help from Saudi courts and ministries out of fear of being deported back to war torn countries. To Saudi's out there, how would you feel if you resided in a country for 40 years, built a home for your kids, worked hard to make a decent living and then suddenly you were asked to leave the country overnight? Is this what Islam teaches us? Is this what out Prophet Muhammed (saw) taught us? Abdulla bin Umar narrated that the Prophet of Allah said, “A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim, so he should not oppress him, nor should he hand him over to an oppressor. Whoever fulfilled the needs of his brother, Allah will fulfill his needs; whoever brought his (Muslim) brother out of a discomfort, Allah will bring him out of the discomforts of the Day of Resurrection, and whoever screened a Muslim, Allah will screen him on the Day of Resurrection .”
