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Saudi companies treating families of Western employees as hostages
There is at least one — and, according to the American wife of a senior manager in Jeddah, many more — Saudi-owned companies treating families of Western employees as hostages. In a candid interview, the woman, identified as Siobhan, said that US-based companies had been very proactive in making arrangements for families and dependents to leave. “In the case of my husband’s company, they have refused to concede anything. They have completely turned their back on our requests. We feel as if we are under fire, hostages in the Kingdom.”

She detailed attempts by her and her husband to get a response from the employer. “They refuse to give us any extra security, demobilize us or ship goods out of the Kingdom,” she said. Before the company was fully Saudi-owned, she said, it was part of a well-known US-based corporation. Siobhan, who is in close contact with other US families, has telephoned the US Consulate in Jeddah for advice. “I get put through to an extension with an answering machine,” she said. “To date, I have received no return calls.” Presenting that information to the US Consulate in Jeddah evoked an immediate response.
“Serving American citizens is our top priority,” said Consul General Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, “and we are answering all calls and messages that come in to us.” The US government, the embassy in Riyadh pointed out, cannot involve itself in contractual arrangements between expatriate Americans and their employers.

Many US-owned companies in the Kingdom have responded to the security situation by offering their employees full compensation and benefits and encouraging dependents to leave in line with the embassy’s recommendations. “Their attitude,” said Siobhan, “is that if you feel unsafe, then go. Our only choice is a 90-day notice with no options.”

A confidential report by security advisers suggests that the refusal to relax the 90-day rule is widespread. One case the advisers specify pertains to an employer who has not paid out the final contract benefits of employees who resigned two months ago. The advisers claim it is because the employer allegedly does not have enough money to meet contractual obligations. The employer owes many employees more than SR80,000 in educational fees, which the employees have paid in advance and submitted expense vouchers for, but for which they have not been reimbursed in over six years.

Siobhan is disappointed rather than angry with the Saudi company that sponsors both her and her husband. In the Kingdom since the early 1990’s, her family generally involved themselves with Saudi life and made a point of not associating only with expatriate workers or isolating themselves from the local community. Arab News contacted the company by fax, inquiring about current arrangements for its expatriate employees but has received no response. Siobhan said, “We made some fine local friends and until very recently always felt the celebrated sense of hospitality and welcome. That has been damaged now, probably irreparably. The greatest sadness is that we now look at people who we knew as friends and as trusted employers and begin asking questions. In this case, the first casualty of war has not been truth but trust.”
Posted by: TS(vice girl) 2004-06-22
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=36104