illegal workers

Issue regarding illegal workers has been a major problem for Saudi government for years. The number of people who live in the Kingdom illegally is too large and it is still growing. These people usually arrive in Saudi Arabia using Umrah or Hajj visas and continue living in this country even after the period of their visas are over. Some of these workers either intend to live illegally, or are fooled by the recruitment companies in their own countries.

Many workers do have legal ID cards when the first time they work in Saudi Arabia. But problems like: treated very badly by their employers, not paid during their work for months or even years, or perhaps being raped by their employers are the reasons that triggered many of them escape from their employers. Their IDs are usually kept by their bosses; so when they escape, they are automatically regarded as illegal workers.

Unfortunately, it is widely known that Indonesia has the largest number of illegal workers throughout the Kingdom. They usually live together in groups in a large apartment to minimize their living expenses. Sometimes there is a person who is responsible for the apartment and usually takes advantage of those poor people. This place is known as “penampungan”. But these apartments are certainly not a safe place to live. Besides being a hiding place for illegal workers, this kind of houses often time becomes a place for sex workers. In addition, many of them are certainly capable of being raided by the Saudi police; anytime, anywhere. One of the maids that I know who had a legal ID card told me that she was in that apartment when the raid was being held. All of the people inside the house were taken into jail (whether a person has ID or not; live in that particular house or not). So it is very risky to be in that house, whether you are staying there or just visiting a friend. Fortunately, she was then released from jail by her employer.

For those people who live in Mecca, hiding in a house located in mountains is the best choice. Normally houses located in mountains are hard to approach. The streets are too small and crowded. The police barely find them. It is common for these people to hide in this kind of places for months. While the men do nothing, their wives usually work in Saudi family for protection (they’re safe in Saudi’s hands). During busy months e.g. Hajj and Ramadhan, the men will come out of their houses and do hard physical labor. The police are too busy to check whether he or she has a legal ID card, so they are usually safe during these months. Thousands of these illegal workers perform Hajj every single year; and that is one of many reasons why the number of Hajj pilgrims increase dramatically although the Saudi governments have limit the quotas for each countries.

One thing I don’t like about these Indonesian workers is their behavior! Saudi communities (please distinguish between Arab and Saudi communities) are still “traditional”. They do not accept any form of flirting (even giggling with opposite sex). Many of these workers are sex workers, too. In Saudis’ eyes, all Indonesian women are flirtatious and they (unfortunately) take advantage of it. They (the men) would do anything that is not acceptable, e.g. intentionally hold our hands – they would NEVER do that to Arab people!!! Many Indonesian people including my mom and I have experienced it. We usually slapped the man who did it and threaten him that our husband/father/family works in an embassy & can do anything to him. He was so scared and surprised.

My family usually hires a maid prior to the month of Ramadhan up until the end of Hajj. Because that’s the months when both my father and mother are busy and (in most cases) stay in Mecca for weeks. When I was a kid, I remembered discovering my maid flirting with a man she called a brother (I mean she told us he was her real brother!). My parents used to put a recording device on our house’s telephone system when they were away for weeks. From that device, I discovered about her lies. The fact that “her brother” frequently came to our house at night when my siblings and I were sleeping was truly not acceptable. My mom later fired her.

I do feel sad for them. They come to Saudi Arabia at the age of 16 or 17; their teenage lives are spent by working with (sometimes) cruel employers. They do need some entertainment; and that is: flirting or in worst case: sex. Even in a Holy Land…