The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Saudi expulsions leave broken dreams in Africa and Asia Posted: 18 Dec 2013 03:21 AM PST Around 120,000 Ethiopians have been deported in the past month alone as part of a visa crackdown aimed at pushing more Saudis into employment to ensure future political and economic stability. "We were kicked out of our homes and our jobs," said Mohamed Ahmed, 27, waiting with thousands of other Ethiopians at a transit centre behind Addis Ababa's Bole Airport after disembarking with a few bags from Saudi Arabian Airlines jets. Like many others, Ahmed, who spent five years in Saudi Arabia after crossing the Red Sea in a fishing boat and trekking through turbulent Yemen, had to leave at short notice. "We left all our belongings there," he said. Saudi Arabia avoided significant unrest during the Arab Spring pro-democracy protest wave in 2011, but its leaders were uncomfortably aware that entrenched unemployment was a big factor behind rebellions in other Arab states. Cheap labour from 10 million foreigners in the country hampered previous government efforts to persuade the private sector to employ some of the 20 million locals. Many of those who have left were illegal immigrants like Ahmed, who crossed the kingdom's porous borders or stayed on after the haj pilgrimage, which attracts around 2 million foreign visitors to Mecca every year. Many others came to Saudi Arabia legally then fell foul of rigid visa rules, which require all expatriates to work for a single employer in a field specified on their residence permit and are often used to exploit migrants. Extortion Mohammed Yunus, 27, was brought to Saudi Arabia by an employment agency to work at a hotel after taking loans to travel to the kingdom, but was soon told to leave his job. His sponsor then demanded $1,867 (RM6,079) a year to sign off on his visa papers while he found odd jobs on building sites and in grocery shops to pay his debts. Such tales of extortion are common among low-paid workers in the country. "I am trying to get back to Saudi. There's no way I can repay my debts by working in India," said Yunus, who worked in Saudi Arabia for five years before leaving during an amnesty declared in March to encourage expatriates to head home without paying fines for violating residency rules. The government said about 4 million people changed their visas to stay in the country, while another million left during the amnesty and can apply for new visas in future. When it ended in early November, forcible deportations began. Authorities raided shops, offices, marketplaces and streets in low-income areas, checking residence permits. The Labour Ministry has said it will set up new tribunals to hear expatriates' complaints about their sponsors, but it has no plans to change the sponsorship system itself, something even a Saudi government-affiliated rights group recommends. "Smear campaign" International migration and rights groups have acknowledged Saudi Arabia's right to deport visa violators and change its employment rules to favour locals, but are critical of the way the crackdown has been carried out. Deportees returning to Yemen and Ethiopia have reported ill treatment, including physical abuse and poor conditions at holding centres before they were expelled, the International Organization of Migration, an international agency, said. When millions rushed to rectify minor visa infringements earlier this summer, government departments appeared unprepared, causing vast numbers of people to queue in temperatures of 40 celsius, some for more than 24 hours. The government has dismissed allegations of abuse and chaotic policymaking as a foreign "smear campaign", saying it welcomed expatriates who abide by the rules, and that 250,000 Saudis have gained jobs as a result of its crackdown. The human impact of making way for them has reverberated across the world. In Yemen, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Indonesia and India, politicians have voiced concern about the fate of their citizens in the kingdom. Egypt, Sri Lanka and the Philippines are all affected too. "I'm going back with literally nothing. All that I earned here has been spent on raising my children," said Abdul Kareem Shamshudeen, 53, who returned to the Indian state of Kerala last week after illegally doing odd jobs in shops for 20 years. The impact has even been felt in other wealthy oil-exporting Gulf nations, which also have large expatriate populations and where many of those leaving Saudi Arabia now want to seek work - including Yunus, if he cannot go back. "I'm always hopeful there will be another chance," he said. Although official unemployment among Saudis is around 12%, economists estimate up to two thirds are not in the labour force. Those who do work mostly have government jobs, the absolute monarchy's way of spreading oil wealth and buying social peace, and tend to support large extended families. While the world's top exporter now enjoys large surpluses, economists say a rising population and growing domestic energy consumption mean the burden of creating work must move to the private sector for the economy to continue to thrive. Riots and deportation The cost for many migrant workers has been high. In the poor south Riyadh neighbourhood of Manfouha, an Ethiopian man was killed in a confrontation with police during a visa raid. Days later, local anger spilled into clashes between Ethiopian migrants, riot police and some Saudis, leaving three dead. Ahmed, the returnee to Addis Ababa, said gangs of Saudis attacked Ethiopians and raped Ethiopian women. Saudis said Ethiopians had started the riot, rampaging through Manfouha with knives and sticks. "I gave myself up. I was afraid of getting killed," he said. For the millions of expatriates remaining in Saudi Arabia, many of whom are still thought to be in breach of residency laws, the crackdown inspires gallows humour. A comic song called Ja Jawazat, "Passport department is coming", has attracted a million views on YouTube. Faez Choudhary, a Pakistani national who wrote the song, was born and raised in Saudi Arabia and works at a Riyadh shopping mall. "I want to help other expatriates, especially those born here, understand this is our country as well," he said. "I myself feel like a Saudi, sometimes." – Reuters, December 18, 2013. |
| The kindest cut – Malaysian charity styles the homeless Posted: 17 Dec 2013 07:08 PM PST But a Malaysian charity that offers free haircuts along with meals helps him to salvage some pride as well. "I like to get my hair cut. I feel good, and it is free," Indera, 49, said with a smile missing several teeth, as strands of his thin black hair float to the ground around him. Wielding the scissors is stylist Azmina Burhan, who runs her own salon but volunteers with the Pertiwi Soup Kitchen to provide for an often-overlooked homeless need. "To me, how people look is very important. You want to look good every day when you wake up, no matter how rich you are, how poor you are," said the bubbly 26-year-old. Azmina joined the charity shortly after its establishment in 2010, helping to give out food and water several times a week. But after encountering hundreds of homeless who couldn't afford proper cuts, she started bringing along her scissors, apron and a small stool about once every other month. Each time, she now gives up to 30 haircuts, and growing. "After you finish getting a haircut you look good, you feel good, and you have that self-confidence in you," she said, adding that a cleaned-up appearance could help people to secure jobs. For Azmina, the task can mean handling dirty, matted hair. The worst, she said, was a man who slept on the streets and hadn't washed his hair for months, leaving her hands blackened with dust. But she has never turned anyone away and said the image of smelly, lice-infested homeless is false and is the sort of stereotype that her haircuts are aimed at eliminating. In fact, her "customers" can be quite trendy, especially younger ones, and common requests include British football star David Beckham's hairstyles and the longer fringes favoured by Korean and Japanese pop icons. Malaysian living standards have vaulted steadily upward thanks to decades of strong economic growth, but Southeast Asia's third-largest economy is not immune to privation, and income disparity has widened. Pertiwi says Kuala Lumpur and its outskirts have an estimated 1,800 homeless. Government officials did not respond to an AFP request for figures. Pertiwi feeds up to 700 people four times a week, pulling up with a food-loaded van in three of Kuala Lumpur's poorer areas. Volunteer medics also provide check-ups and medicine. "I didn't realise it was going to be this big," said Munirah Hamid, head of Pertiwi, who said the crowds of needy are growing. Azmina is now looking to enlist another volunteer hair-dresser to meet the demands of homeless people like Paul Chin, who lives on the street after he lost his job at a car-wash several months ago. "It's very annoying," Chin said shyly of the overgrown shock of greying hair crowning his head as he settled onto Azmina's stool. But by the time Azmina's scissors stopped snipping, someone waiting in line shouted out "He's a new man!" "Now I feel good," Chin said, running his hands over his newly trimmed top before disappearing among the crowds of needy. - AFP, December 18, 2013. |
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