Using social media for selling visas is human trafficking

The Ministry of Labour has warned against selling visas and transferring sponsorship of expatriates on social media saying the culprit can be charged with human trafficking, Saudi –based Makkah newspaper reported.

International Law Professor Abdulsamad Al-Ali said international agreements between countries forbid any form of human trafficking.

“Citizens must know that transferring sponsorship or changing visa status must be done legally through the ministry and through recruitment offices and companies. Posting the expatriate’s visa information and putting it on sale is in itself a human trafficking charge,” said Al-Ali.

He also said expatriates are the easiest type of human trafficking because they are foreigners to the country they are in and they are only protected by Labour Law.

“Many expatriates and sponsors are not educated and unaware of the Labour Law in Saudi Arabia. Sponsors are not aware of the violations they commit and expatriates don’t know what is their right and what is their responsibility,” said Al-Ali.

He also said authorities must not only focus on penalizing violators of the law, they should also focus on raising awareness to prevent violations from happening.

Jeddah Recruitment Committee head Yahya Al-Maqbul said the human trafficking of expatriates on social media is not a prevalent phenomenon.

“This violation is never done by recruitment offices which are fully licensed to recruit expatriates legally. The social media accounts claiming to be recruitment offices are frauds,” said Al-Maqbul.

He added brokers are usually the ones that use social media to have a business in recruitment because they do not represent any office or official directorate.

“The committee has the responsibility to gather data about expatriates in the Kingdom. The Saudi Ministry of Labour, the ministries of labor in the countries we recruit from and the recruitment offices there and in Saudi Arabia all depend on the data we present,” said Al-Maqbul.