Backlash of the Saudi vision

I met a Bangladeshi young man in Makkah who came to Saudi Arabia eight years ago to work in a four-star hotel. He is from Feni. His wife and daughter lives in Bangladesh.

The man sends money to his family regularly. His younger sister was married off with the money he remitted.

“It seems I cannot stay here anymore,” the man told me.

The fee for Iqama, work permit in Saudi Arabia, has been doubled, from 5,000 riyals, estimated to be Tk 115,000, to 12,000 riyals which is about Tk 300,000 a year. Apart from the fees, every worker will have to pay an amount of 200 riyals as ‘salary tax’ every month.

His current salary is 1500 riyals and the guests in the hotel give him tips. The salary is not regular now, he says.

“If I have to give away 12,000 riyals from this salary, how do I survive and what do I send to my family?” he asked.

A certain Jamshed Hossain (not his real name) has an electronics business for 18 years. He had a happy life with his wife and two children. He had two shops near Masjid-e-Nabwi.

Jamshed recently sent his family back to Bangladesh as the Saudi government has raised family tax recently.

The family tax is 2,000 riyals per capita. Jamshed has to pay 8000 riyals for the family. Daily expenditure has also increased a lot.

Most of the businesses are established by Bangladeshis near the Masjid-e-Nabwi area which is locally known as Markezia. Most of the Bangladeshis are from Satkania, Lohagara and Cox’s Bazar district of Chattogram. Many of them have been living in Saudi Arabia for 30 to 35 years.

The Saudi government has formulated a new law that restricts business solely owned by foreigners.

A Saudi citizen should own at least 70 per cent partnership of any business, according to the new law.

Apart from Bangladeshis, expatriates from around the world are facing the same crisis in Saudi Arabia. The picture is the same for Indian and Pakistani citizens and many of them have also sent their families back to their home countries due to the additional family taxes.

The expatriates believe because of ‘Vision-2030’ adopted by the Saudi government to build a ‘new’ Saudi Arabia, the authorities want to terminate additional foreign workers by 2030.

At present, there are more than 80 per cent foreign workers at white collar jobs in some places while the ratio should not be more than 20 per cent according to the law.

The Saudi government undertook programmes to build workforce of its own for all sectors.

The government recently stopped unemployment allowance and advised everyone to work.

Due to suspension of unemployment allowance, thousands of Saudi youths now need employment. The government has already planned to send back foreign workers to their respective home countries. It is imposing new taxes on foreign workers and strictly implementing outdated laws against them. During my stay for several days in Madina, I found Bangladeshi entrepreneurs keeping their business houses shut in fear of raids by the law enforcement.  

Some countries seem to be worried about the Saudi plan of deporting foreigners. At the initiative of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, the monthly salary tax of Indian workers in Saudi Arabia has already been written off, according to Indian worker Belal Hossain.

“It is true that tax on our monthly salary is written off, but still we have to go back home,” Belal said.

After discovery of oil, Saudi Arabia became one of the largest recipient countries of foreign workers. Next to USA and Russia, Saudi is the third country with over 10 million foreign workers. Over 400,000 million Bangladeshis are working in the Middle East countries. A majority of them work in Saudi Arabia. Most of them now fear losing jobs and deportation. Some of them have already started to send their families back home. The rest are planning to do the same.

Driver Shafiq has been staying in Madina for 31 years.  He has already sent his family back to Halishahor in Chattogram. He will stay until he is sent back home by the authorities.

It is expected that a major change will be seen in Saudi politics, economy and culture within a decade. Educated and hardworking Saudi citizens will be at the centre of change.

Through the Math Olympiad, I came to know that talented students have been sought out. Different curricula have been introduced for them to acquire skills. After participation in different Olympiads including math, physics, chemistry and informatics, with government funds, they are sent to different universities abroad for higher studies. Besides, a number of large universities and research centres are being established.

Saudi Arabia wants to reduce dependence on oil and turn its tourism sector into a big factor of economic activities. The oil rich country will have to depend on educated and trained people to achieve that. The Saudi government has set its vision-2030 which is tough for foreign workers and entrepreneurs.

Bangladeshi expatriates in Saudi Arabia remit a lion share of our foreign remittance. If half of them return home, not only will the remittance fall, but also unemployment will increase. This will result in social problems.

It is high time to give the matter serious thought. We should now plan how to use the skills of the returning workers. We need to make plans to provide facilities to entrepreneurs if they return home.           

We need to act in a planned way so that the Saudi government vision-2030 does not bring any hardship for us. It would be beneficial to us if we act quickly.  

* Munir Hassan is a coordinator of youth programmes at Prothom Alo. This piece, published in Prothom Alo print edition, has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam and Farjana Liakat.