Citizens to be denied services in a long-awaited move, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) is to reclaim money due from sponsors for charges related to the deportation of workers under their visa.
The sponsor will have to bear all expenses, including airfare, incurred by the MoI for deporting workers apprehended for violating the residence or labor laws, even if they have been reported absconding by the sponsor.
To facilitate the reclaim process, the MoI has tied up with the Citizens Service Centers in all governorates. Accordingly, if a citizen fails to pay what they owe the ministry, all their transactions with the Citizens Service Centers will be blocked.
The belated action on the part of MoI is expected to deliver a severe blow to visa traders, who sell visas to workers at exorbitant prices and then expect the ministry to foot the bill for their deportations.
Visa traders often sell visas to overseas workers under false pretext and then abandon them once they arrive in the country, as they have no jobs to offer the workers. When such workers are apprehended and subsequently deported, the MoI has to bear the expenses including the price of air tickets.
The ministry said it would continue to deport the visa trade victims at its expense, but from now on, the sponsor will have to pay for the expenses incurred or their transactions with the Citizens Service Centers would remain blocked.
