Hassan Cheruppa

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH – Pakistan’s Consul General Aftab Ahmad Khokher said that declaration of an amnesty and its extension are a unique humanitarian gesture from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to millions of guest workers living in the Kingdom.



He thanked the King and the Saudi government for providing this golden opportunity for expatriates to regulate their status.



In an exclusive interview with Saudi Gazette, he also announced the move to offer discounted special fares for all Pakistanis who return home after taking advantage of the amnesty.



Khokher said that extension of the grace period is a blessing. “If you look at details of the amnesty, you can see that it all lies in an humanitarian perspective. The cases of “huroob (runaway)” victims seemed to be insoluble and now they heaved a big sigh of relief as they could find out a new sponsor or go home and come back. It is great that expatriates can easily transfer their sponsorship, in addition to changing profession free of cost,” he said.



The diplomat noted that the amnesty extension saved many expatriates from suffering under hot sun while waiting for their turn in long queues to rectify their status.



It has also given them an opportunity to spend Ramadan at the holy mosques. The unregulated people are generally relaxed now, and they are grateful to the King for giving this great opportunity to spend one more Ramadan here. They got some more time to save a little more money before their return. Hence, there are multiple advantages for this extension – opportunity to utilize Ramadan at the holy land, and job for a few more months. Some of these people can also perform Haj before their departure. So this is a unique opportunity as they don’t know whether they will be able to come back.



Khokher said that the consulate’s focus was mainly to facilitate, encourage and motivate its people to continue to stay in the Kingdom. Majority of people who opted for out passes also wanted to come back. Many families in Pakistan rely on these expatriates for their livelihood.



Apart from the job related things, people’s religious attachment to the Kingdom is also important.



Enhance facilities at Tarheel



The Consul General urged authorities to enhance facilities at Deportation Centers (Tarheel) so as to get done maximum number of fingerprinting and offset the huge backlog.  We have so far issued more than 14,000 emergency passports, of which only 3,200 were processed for fingerprinting at Tarheel.



Out of this, 50 percent are yet to be cleared for exit. There are cases against some of them, while some others have to pay penalties.



Saudi officials at Tarheel are working hard with us as a team to complete the process. They work from nine in the morning to even 3am the next day. This shows their willingness to cooperate with us to fulfill a huge task. But the only thing required is an increase of manpower and equipment. The heavy rush prompted the Tarheel officials to encourage people who came from other cities to go to their designated Tarheel for the correction process. In the second phase, we are trying to establish a mechanism with other Tarheel centers to do finger printing from there also.



Khokher noted that there are 1.2 million Pakistanis in the Western Region spreading over seven provinces from Tabuk to Najran.



Referring to the hurdles faced in the correction procedures, he said: “There are several people, who approach the consulate and do not have any original documents. The Saudi authorities have come up with a formal policy that they will only process if the expatriates bring the original passport in which the entry visa was issued. That created a big problem.”



Another requirement is getting a printout from the Passport Department. The Passport authorities seek entry number for those who travel back. Because of heavy rush for a printout of entry visa number, people rely on agencies to get the printout by paying up to SR1,000. In normal circumstances, it is free.



The print shows all details whether the worker has come legally or illegally into the Kingdom with the date of entry. Only by this, Tarheel authorities can process the finger printing procedures.



Token system, job fair our idea

Khokher said that the token system and job fair were first initiated by the Pakistan Consulate and they were copied by other consulates.



He said: “We have a dedicated system and manpower to help people. Only those people who have received the token need to come for processing at their allotted time. The color of the token is different. One day it is green, another day yellow and the third day blue. So when people come, the officials know who will be served first. This system helped us a lot. The consulate sends SMS one day before to all token holders notifying them of their turn at Tarheel.



While issuing the tokens, the consulate registers people with their phone number for follow up contacts.



The diplomat announced plans to continue job fair during Ramadan at night. “This matter will be discussed with colleagues and we will come up with a decision shortly.” The consulate has established a special job facilitation committee that organized four job fairs. Over 6,000 people, including skilled and unskilled workers like electricians, plumbers, drivers, steel fixers, and labors, have benefited from the fair, which was visited by more than 2,000 - 3,000 people.



Commenting on discounted air tickets, Khokher said: “When we spoke to officials of Pakistan International Airlines and the private airline Shaheen about this, they offered special one-way fare for those who will go back even in the peak and high fare vacation season. The special fare is almost half of the normal fare. Everybody understands that these people need our help and all the authorities and private organizations are willing to support them with discounted fares.”



JCCI’s commendable role



The Consul General extended gratitude to Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry for its support program in making correction process a resounding success. We are thankful to them for their very positive and humanitarian role. Apart from erecting tents in the consulate premises, JCCI is also doing its best to facilitate fingerprinting at Tarheel, besides establishing websites for the expatriate job seekers.



Under Chairman Saleh Kamel and Deputy Chairman Mazen Batterjee, JCCI is playing a great role in fulfilling its corporate social responsibility.

The role of media is also fantastic as they are in the forefront in highlighting concerns of the community on a daily basis and that also contributed substantially in the extension of amnesty.



Khokher also spoke about the consulate’s keenness in extending services to the community members at its doorstep. Every day there are nearly 3,000 visitors at the consulate.



“We allocated three spaces to provide different categories of services. Whatever services required are being rendered at these counters. We did not bring any staff from Pakistan. We manage with whatever human resources we have at the consulate. We are applying the crowd management strategies in a fruitful way,” he said.



Haj arrangements are well in place



As the extended amnesty period coincides with the Haj season, Khokher said, all arrangements for the annual pilgrimage are well in place.



“Our Haj quota is 180,000. Now it has been reduced by 20 percent (36,000). We have deducted 36,000 aspiring pilgrims from private quota with the consent of Saudi government. The selection of accommodation in Makkah and Madinah has been completed. Majority of pilgrims opted Aziziya as most of the buildings there are new and comparatively cheaper, and there are also shuttle bus services to and fro between Haram and Aziziya.”

This year, PIA, Shaheen, and Saudia are likely to operate services. Last year there was only PIA.



For Haj, a huge contingent of staffers (Khuddamul Haj) used to come from Pakistan every year, besides locally hired volunteers, said Suhail Ali Khan, Consul Press at the consulate.



“Last year, we organized a welfare campaign for Umrah pilgrims during Ramadan. We have set up a center in Makkah to guide the lost pilgrims. We are doing this year as well. We help them join their group and even contact their towns and villages and relatives to know about their details while extending them services. We provide them food, temporary relief and make them feel relaxed,” he said.