The Saudi government announced great news for foreign employees

The Saudi government has announced great news for foreign employees.

Saudi Arabia has announced it will relax rules on the so-called ‘kafala’ system, which gives employers control over the lives of nearly 10 million migrant workers.

After these reforms, private sector employees will be able to change their jobs and leave the country without the will of the employer.

The Saudi government has said it is striving to make the work environment more effective and efficient.

Human rights activists say that the current system of sponsorship paves the way for the exploitation of workers.

One activist called the reforms important but said parts of the system still remain.

He demanded the complete abolition of this system.

The Saudi Ministry of Manpower said the ‘labor reform initiative’ announced on Wednesday will apply to all foreigners employed in the private sector and will take effect from March.

These employees will no longer be bound by their employer’s permission to change or leave a job, and will also be able to leave the country without their employer’s permission.

These employees will now be able to directly apply for government services and have their contracts with their employers digitalised.

Speaking to reporters in Riyadh, Deputy Minister Abdullah bin Nasr Abu Sanin said: ‘Under this plan, we want to create an attractive labor market and improve working conditions.’

He said that these reforms will also help in achieving the goals of Vision 2030. It should be remembered that the main objective of Vision 2030 announced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is to remove the dependence of the country’s economy on oil.

But Ruthna Begum, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, told the BBC that the ministry’s announcement was “significant and could improve working conditions for foreign workers.”

However, he said that ‘this is not the complete end of the kafala system.’

Ruthna Begum said that apparently employees would still need an employer to enter Saudi Arabia and employers would still have the option to renew or cancel employees’ residence permits at any time.

“This could mean that employees could still be exploited because employers would still have that power over them,” he said.

“Additionally, these reforms do not seem to apply to migrant domestic workers, who are among the most vulnerable in this country.”

Ruthana Begum added that Human Rights Watch has documented how many employers forced domestic workers to work long hours without rest or leave, deprived them of wages or confined them to their homes.

Some employees were also subjected to physical and sexual abuse.

He said: ‘In addition, there are thousands of unregistered workers in Saudi Arabia and the authorities have not said anything about whether they will allow those workers, many of whom have been issued documents through no fault of their own. have been deprived of, will they be able to regularize themselves or not.