Remittances sent by expatriate workers to their families in
their home countries will now be tracked by the Omani government, as it looks
to clamp down on money sent outside the country by foreign workers who are here
illegally, as reported by Times of Oman. These workers
normally send money home either through friends or extended members of their
families who also stay in the country. Now, a special committee has been set up
by the Ministry of Manpower, with assistance from the Central Bank of Oman, the
Sultanate’s financial regulatory body, to stop this.
Salim Al Badi, the Director General of Labour
Welfare at the Ministry of Manpower, said, “The illegal workers get help from
either their friends or citizens, who in turn send money to their family back
home under their names. This way of remitting money is illegal and makes it
hard to track them. However, the Central Bank of Oman is going to be vigilant
in this matter, as a committee has been formed to deal with this issue.” Al Badi was
speaking to Oman TV, the Sultanate’s national broadcaster, and added that
violations of the country’s labour laws were among the main reasons behind the
arrests of those expats who were held by the authorities. He said, “The majority of expats who are
arrested for breaching labour laws are absconding workers. Daily inspection
visits are conducted to clamp down on violators of the labour law. Close to
51.3 percent of those detained had left their place of employment, accounting
for 12,524 of the arrested. Another 8,509 were laid-off, and 3,363 entered the
country on tourist and visit visas and worked in the Sultanate illegally.” Al Badi added
that from the beginning of 2019 to the month of September, 1,009 absconding
workers had been arrested. In the context of illegal workers who sent money to
their families back home, he explained that many local sponsors allowed their
foreign workers to find work elsewhere, while continuing to remain on their
visas, a practice that is deemed unlawful. “Some Omani
sponsors allow their expat workers to go work in other jobs, which violates the
labour law of the country. Unfortunately, this is a reason that leads to the
issue of absconding workers, and citizens must cooperate with the ministry in
this regard,” explained Al Badi.
According to the country’s laws, companies that
hire workers that have been reported or registered as absconding will be handed
a fine of OMR 1,000, in addition to covering the costs of the air ticket
required to send the expats back to their home countries. Agencies who use
illegal methods to hire expats will also face punishments.
