The contours of Saudi Arabia’s immigration issue bear some resemblance to that of the United States. Both countries’ undocumented workforces — about 9 million foreigners in Saudi Arabia’s case, compared to 12 million here — largely provide low-paying, unskilled labor.
The consequences of the oil kingdom’s crackdown have been noteworthy. Many local businesses, unable to afford the higher wages native Saudis demand, have shut down. Garbage is piling up on the streets with no one to collect it. Nearly half of the kingdom’s small construction firms have halted projects due to a lack of workers. Up to 20,000 schools are now without janitors, according to the state-based Saudi Gazette.
It is true that Saudi Arabia, unlike the United States, is seeking to entirely restructure its labor force. Millions of young Saudis are entering the job market, but private sector jobs are scant. Government payrolls alone can’t sustain this growth.
Nonetheless, any overhaul needn’t be violent and must be fair. The crackdown against laborers is becoming a human rights crisis. Some 33,000 foreigners have been placed behind bars, and others have gone into hiding. Crowds of Saudis have taken enforcement into their own hands, pulling Ethiopian workers from their homes and beating them in the street. African immigrants found it nearly impossible to become legal workers during the seven-month grace period. They now appear to be the primary target for arrest. Other workers report Saudi bosses demanding bribes to help them obtain proper paperwork.
Much of the current situation in Saudi Arabia is due to decades of halfhearted enforcement of immigration laws. It highlights the need to make periodic adjustments rather than delaying them indefinitely and then lurching in a harsh direction.