The Saudi government is set to implement a new diesel system to quickly manage the repatriation process of migrant workers, including those from Nepal, who have lost their legal status.
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A ‘self-deportation platform’ is set to be launched in Saudi Arabia for workers who have lost their legal residency status and become undocumented. The Saudi government is set to implement a new digital system to expedite the repatriation process of migrant workers, including those from Nepal, who have lost their legal status.
According to Major General Saleh Al-Murabba, Acting Director General of the Saudi Arabian Directorate General of Passports (Jawajat), a ‘self-deportation platform’ is being introduced to manage the repatriation process for those who have violated residency and labor laws. ‘This system will be launched after the security, technical and operational preparations are completed,’ he said while addressing the Digital Government Forum 2025, ‘Undocumented workers will be able to complete their travel and return home process online.’
It is very difficult for undocumented workers in Saudi Arabia to return home. They will not be allowed to return home without serving a prison sentence. Until the police make arrangements to arrest undocumented workers and take them to prison, there is no way to return home. According to Dharam KC, who has been working in Saudi Arabia for two decades, when there is no documentation, the Saudi government comes under the scope of labor action, not the employer company.
‘When the employer does not provide regular salary, service facilities and accommodation, most of the workers leave the company. The workers who come to the supply company are the ones who suffer, are exploited and are left stranded. Due to this, the victims lose their legal status when they leave the company,’ he said, ‘On the other hand, the fee for an identity card in Saudi Arabia is very high. The company has to invest 12,000 riyals for a worker to make a one-year identity card. That is why the company wants to employ workers without an identity card.’
Since it costs a high fee to make an identity card for a worker, Saudi Arabia has made an alternative arrangement where the employer can make a three-month, six-month and one-year identity card. If this period is not renewed after the end of the period, the worker will automatically become undocumented. Workers without legal status do not get any legal treatment in Saudi Arabia. It is even difficult to get health treatment in government hospitals.
Yadav Timalsina from Saptari, who has been without documents for 5 years, said he is suffering a lot. 'We come as a company, but the supply company is being used. We are the ones who are suffering a lot. Nothing happened as promised. I left the company and left,' he said, 'To return home, we need to apply for an exit permit. It has been 5 months for this. I don't know why it is delayed. We keep calling the embassy. The embassy is only saying that the work is being done.'
According to Nepalis, workers have had to leave their employers when Saudi Arabia did not fix the minimum wage. 'The agreement between the employer and the embassy is a normal agreement. Only the agreement between the employer and the worker is applicable. They say that any agreement made later is not applicable. This causes workers to fall into a trap,’ says former Nepali ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mahendra Singh Rajput. ‘This causes workers to leave the company.’ As a result, they end up in even more trouble after losing their legal status.’
