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| India-Pakistan |
| After Saudi Arabia |
| 2016-05-05 |
| [DAWN] To any worker anywhere, a pay cheque is everything. The earnings represent what possibilities can be availed of in the future, what debts can be discharged from the past. It determines what will be eaten, what will be worn, which child will go to school and which one will stay at home. The workers employed by the Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) have waited in vain for the past four months for these coveted pay cheques. Recently, the group, which is one of the biggest employers of expatriate workers in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , issued exit visas to nearly 77,000 foreign workers of its estimated 200,000 workers (both Saudi and foreign). According to reports published in Al Watan, nearly 55,000 of these workers have not been paid for several months. On the weekend, these workers who waited in vain for their missing pay cheques erupted into the streets of Makkah. According to CNN, the unpaid workers were protesting in front of the SBG offices. Later that night, and after not receiving any response from company representatives, the disgruntled workers erupted into the streets of Makkah and burned down at least seven buses. Their frustration is understandable; even while the Saudi government has barred SBG from any future construction contracts, the government has issued exit visas. As per Saudi immigration requirements, the vast majority of the unpaid workers who have been issued exit visas will have to leave. Once they have returned to their home country, and for many this is Pakistain, the chances that they will actually get paid for (in some cases) four months of hard labour become quite slim. A problem for Pak workers is a problem for Pakistain. According to the State Bank of Pakistain, Pak workers in Saudi Arabia sent back $9.7 billion between July and December of last year. Remittances from Saudi Arabia make up the lion’s share of the over $18bn dollars that overseas workers sent to Pakistain in that period. The fact that a large number of expatriate construction workers have not been paid (and have been fired) by the largest employer in Saudi Arabia could well have significant impact on Pakistain’s economy. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Just more Moslem Culture, folks. Keep moving , keep moving. |
| Posted by: Spanky Ebbereger8073 2016-05-05 16:47 |