Egypt says Saudi holding 3,000 Egyptian workers

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 (...)