File image used for representative purpose only
| Photo Credit: Reuters

With a series of digitally enforceable measures and platforms, Saudi Arabia is getting ready to ensure a more secure working condition for foreign workers, including those from India.

A group of officials from the Human Resources and Social Development Ministry here on Thursday presented the Saudi plans for meeting the Vision 2030 of the Saudi government and said the Kingdom’s plans regarding the expat workers would secure workers’ rights and cut down on illegal immigration.

Also Read:Will the new Saudi law help migrant domestic workers? 

The new labour rules in Saudi Arabia — under a digital platform called Musaned — will benefit at least 10 African countries like Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Egypt and Kenya as well as nine Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Under the Musaned platform, foreign workers in the domestic (household) work sector can check the existing employment contracts and follow updates in a dedicated Musaned labour app. This system allows foreign embassies to have “view access” on the system on “all the details related to their citizens working in Saudi (employer name, location, endorsed contract.”). Allowing the foreign missions a “view access” is aimed at resolving labour disputes more efficiently.

Wage protection system

The Musaned platform can be linked with contract insurance and health benefits. The officials said the Musaned platform would protect human rights and provide “stable working environment” for both the employee as well as the employers. The most important feature of the Musaned platform, according to the officials, is that it provides a “wage protection system” by following the employers’ obligations to pay the monthly wages for the workers. The digital platform can track financial transactions between the employers and the foreign workers, thereby ensuring the employers will fulfil the contractual obligations towards the foreign workers.

Bangladesh, India and Pakistan provide the largest number of workers who serve in the domestic and private labour sectors of Saudi Arabia. With 1.4 million workers, Indians hold the second position in the Saudi labour market. The first position is held by Bangladesh that currently supplies around 2.7 million workers to the Saudi labour market. According to the latest data supplied by the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, Pakistan has supplied around 2.1 million workers for the domestic households and private sectors. Labour force from Nepal, Indonesia, Sudan, Philippines, Yemen, Egypt and Uganda are some of the other countries whose labour forces in the Saudi market will also benefit from the newly introduced platforms and schemes.

The Musaned platform will also benefit in settling of labour lawsuits, said the officials here. The Hindu was told that for the period of 2021-24 there have been around 12,649 labour lawsuits involving Indian workers in the domestic (household) sector of Saudi Arabia.

One of the most important features of the Musaned system is that this will allow the Saudi government to check background of employers more effectively and ensure protection of workers’ rights. While this system will ensure digital checking of the crime records of the employers, this will also allow similarly enforceable measures that will prevent arrival of illegal immigrants into Saudi Arabia.

(The correspondent is in Saudi Arabia on the invite of the Saudi government for the Riyadh Season 2024 festival of tolerance and culture.)