Yemen fears serious consequences of Saudi expulsion of foreign workers

The Yemeni newspaper Yemen Post reports that thousands of Yemenis have been forcibly returned to Yemen under police escort, as its neighbour Saudi.Arabia is enforcing a newly adopted labour law. Under the law foreign workers have to have their legal status reviewed. But Yemen’s Consul in Jeddah told the press earlier this week, says the Yemen Post,  that an estimated 150,000 Yemeni nationals had already been issued a final exit visa as they were unable to rectify their status.
There are about 800,000 Yemenis living and working in Saudi Arabia which represents over $2 billion in remittance. The return of 150,000 Yemenis will mean a loss in revenues of tens of millions of dollars, notwithstanding the loss in businesses it will generate back in Yemen as expatriates have been supporting many local businesses back home through remittances.

Photo Arab News

The Saudi newspaper Arab News reported on Thursday that the Saudi police is conducting razzia's on foreign workers. The Kingdom’s police and security agencies, it wrote,  arrested 11,756 violators of residency and labor laws on the third day of the clampdown on illegal workers across the country. The arrests were made in Makkah, Jeddah, Al-Jouf, Northern Border Province, Renia, Dhahran Al-Janoub and Sajer.