Saudi Arabia deports 130 Pakistani workers

Saudi companies with held workers' salaries for a year

MULTAN: At least 130 Pakistanis were deported by the Saudi Arabian government for overstaying their visas or working without a valid work permit.

The deportees arrived at Multan International Airport via Saudi Arabian airlines on Thursday. The workers claim Saudi Binladin Group and Redico Real Estate Development and Investment failed to pay them their dues for over a year.

The workers told The Express Tribune that their situation was dire as they had not been paid for over a year by their employers and the situation was compounded by the expiry of their work permit. The companies had not renewed their two-year work permits.



The destitute employees were residing in Jubail RC camps as they found it hard to make both ends meet without any income. Without valid work permits, it was impossible for them to seek employment with any other firm under the kingdom's labour laws.

Rab Nawaz, one of the deportees, claimed to have faced the worst kind of exploitation at the hands of these companies. He added that the Pakistani embassy did not provide any assistance to them despite many requests.

Zahid Abbas, another deportee, said he contacted the Pakistani embassy six months back for assistance and was told that their computer system had been hacked and they could only help citizens after it was restored. Abbas lamented that six months had now passed without any assistance from the embassy.



The foreign office claimed to have paid Rs50,000 to each worker under a government assistance programme. But a labourer claimed that only Rs10,000 had been given to his family.

The FO spokesperson released a statement saying that these Pakistanis registered a case in a local labour court. Moreover, the FO is in contact with Saudi Arabia's ministry of labour as well as the companies involved to resolve the longstanding wage issue.