Saudi Arabia Expatriates Essay

Saudi Arabia just like others Gulf States is heavily dependent on expatriate to fill the gaps in their labor force. Migrants from Europe, Yemen, South East Asia, and Africa are the dominant groups that make up the Saudi Arabian expatriates (). Sixty-six percent (66%) of the Saudi labor force is made up of foreigners (). Recently, the Saudi government placed measures on diversifying their economy from only depending on oil revenues. Dependence on expatriates has also dominated the talk on the diversification. In addition, the large number of expatriates contribute extensively in terms of taxes and social contributions compared to what they receive in individual benefits. The expatriates are neither a burden to the public kitty nor cause any fiscal challenges. Rather, they contribute more to the financing of the public sector than the native Saudis.

The Saudis despise manual jobs and their education system focuses on repetition and cramming hence fail to cope up. It is estimated that the expatriates contribute up to 60% of the internal collected revenues (). First, although the majority of these migrants do not replace the native Saudis they contribute to higher rates of unemployment. Saudi Arabia imports 66% of its workforce but the prevailing unemployment rates averages at 12% (). Native Saudis are unemployed while foreigners enjoy the fruits of the country. This situation has forced the government to enact a policy that requires that 50% of any company’s workforce must be made up of native Saudis. Saudi Arabia expatriates come from different parts of the world where they have different cultures and beliefs. Allowing labor mobility will lead to further funds leak and instances of human rights abuses.