MUSCAT: Oman has decided to step up crackdown on illegal foreign workers, after several nationals were arrested, for allowing more than 5,000 expats to work without permits for other companies.
On Wednesday, two Omani citizens were accused of having traded in 88 companies that employed 1302 expats and allowed them to leave the company and go work for others on so-called “free visas”. The actions, according to the Ministry of Manpower, were in violation of national laws aimed at helping Omanis into work.
Oman has intensified its campaign against infiltrators and illegal foreign workers with weekly inspections and raids.
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Three-year prison, huge fine for Omani businessman
Early last week, an Omani business owner in Salalah was sentenced to three years in prison and fined nearly OMR 140,000 for allowing nearly 4,000 of his employees to work for others illegally. The business owner was among the five citizens who owned more than 100 commercial records with a total of 3,816 expatriate workers. This included 1,560 expat workers with expired labour cards.
As per Article 18 of the Labour Law, an employer shall not allow any expatriate worker, under his sponsorship, to work for another person. “The employer is also not allowed to employ an expatriate worker in any profession other than what is mentioned in the permit,” the law states.
An official at the Ministry of Manpower told English daily Times of Oman: “Hiring expat workers illegally is punishable by Omani law. This is not the first time that Omani courts issued such verdicts as some employers were jailed and fined for the same reason.”
