CAIRO: The Egyptian daily independent Al Dustour newspaper reported on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia is currently holding some 3,000 Egyptians in the Jeddah passport directorate for over 10 days under the pretext of violating the country's newly revised labor code. According to the article, protests from the families has been met with silence by the Egyptian government, who recently said it would look into the treatment of Egyptians abroad. The detentions come as the series of nearly continuous protests and anger by Egyptian families over the workers in Saudi runs high. According to Saudi officials, the workers are being held for violating the country's laws. The newspaper wrote that the Egyptians are being held “under the pretext of the ‘sponsorship' system imposed on the Egyptian workers, which allows the Saudi sponsor to hold the Egyptian worker's passport and salary without allowing the worker to return to his country” for vacation or to see his family. “It should be noted that many Egyptian human rights organization condemned such system, calling on for the elimination of this system, especially after the debate arose last year when two Egyptians were sentenced to more than 100 lashes” for allegedly violating the terms of their “sponsorship” agreements, the newspaper said. The Egyptian government has repeatedly said they are working with foreign governments in an effort to end the “sponsorship” means in Gulf countries, which they agree with human rights groups that it is “a policy that does nothing but put Egyptian citizens in a position where they are treated as second class.” Despite these claims, little has been done to pressure nations to end this process, which has left dozens of Egyptians behind bars and in danger of lashings similar to those the two Egyptian workers received last year. The Egyptian newspaper added that the “crisis of detainees has been aggravated” after Saudi authorities allegedly ignored the workers because of “their preoccupation with the minor pilgrimage season of Ramadan (Umrah),” when millions flock from all over the world to visit Islam's holiest places. Al-Dustour reported that the Egyptian consulate in Jeddah has been absent on the issue, despite pleas from family members and workers being held. “The embassy did not lift a finger to look into this problem,” the newspaper added. “Particularly as Saudi authorities have launched a campaign in order to hunt people who stay longer than their visa after performing the rituals of Umrah in the month of Ramadan these days, with a view to self-employment without recourse to the right path and the law of sponsorship,” the article argued. The newspaper also reported that it had learned that a number of those detained in Jeddah were carrying proper work permits and their passports, but had been working outside the “sponsorship” system, despite an agreement made previously with a Saudi citizen who had sponsored their travel to the Arab nation It is unclear if the Egyptian government will intervene on behalf of the workers. The foreign ministry did not return calls this morning for more information into the situation in Jeddah. **reporting by Mohamed Abdel Salam BM
