Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi

The poor man was cleaning up the street under the scorching summer sun in Jeddah. He typically chose intersections, near traffic lights.



A young man opened his window and gave him a water bottle. A lady handed him a sandwich.



All that must have been appreciated — he probably was hungry and thirsty. But what I believe he really needed  most was cash. A man of his profession gets an average of SR350 a month, plus little food, snappy shelter and less than adequate medical services.



Newspapers’ reports (the last was published in Makkah Daily) show that many of labor compounds are shanty towns, and their accommodation looks like tuna tins.



Workers almost never receive their salaries on time — sometimes six months late. Medical insurance is minimum and only accepted at low-rated clinics.



Some companies require them to pay for their residency papers fees.



A friend, working for a government ministery, told me that he once took a janitor to his compound, at the outskirts of Jeddah, because the company bus had already left. Otherwise, the poor man would have to pay SR50 for a taxi.



“What I saw was utterly shocking. It was more like cattle barns than human accommodation. Hundreds, if not thousands of people, were crowded in this snappy containers, sleeping together, side by side, on the ground, with no privacy. The place smelled awful. Clearly, it wasn’t clean or safe to live in.



“Uniforms are given once a year. Personal clothes are not provided.



Many have to fetch for needed conveniences in garbages.



“They rest only on Fridays, and come to clean up our offices on Saturdays. Vacations are no more than a month every two years. And if they wished to go on Umrah or Haj, they have to pay for everything, including the outrageous fees of local Haj service providers.



“As for food, it wasn’t really food. They're given mostly rice, curry, fat, and maybe some canned stuff and yesterday bread. In Ramadan, they get dates with that. As for fresh food, forget it! I am sure food for convicted mass murderers is much better!



“I fled with a sinking feeling … and outrage! How could we allow this to happen, here, in the ‘Kingdom of Humanity’? Where is the Labor Ministry which had just issued a decree forbidding work under the sun in midday? Why are  they not visiting these compounds to check on the way laborers are treated? Do we need to wait for a strike to know that some companies are not paying their unbelievably meager salaries on time? Who would blame these people if they hated us, turned to thievery?”



Good and valid questions, indeed. I do wonder about the absence of the Labor Ministery from the scene. I would add human-rights organizations. In fact, it is the responsibility of all of us to do something about the inhumane treatment of laborers.



Your thoughts are appreciated, dear readers. Thanks for your comments on my last article, “Graduation, dreams and realities!"



A new dream!



“As a girl, you start your life with high inspirations and obsession which are postponed immediately as you get a nice proposal. As soon as a woman becomes a mother, all her priorities are motivated towards bringing the best out of her children. By the time they are grown up, she finds herself in a mid-age crisis. So which dreams to follow and how to follow them? Your article gives me a new dimension in life, and now I will certainly build new dreams for myself and make sure these are fulfilled.” — Maria Khan



Chasing Dreams!



“This is a good piece of advice to young men and women who have just began their long journey on their career path. I am sure, if considered, it should serve as beacon in the pursuit of their dreams.



As they say "Success comes to them who wake up and chase their dreams". — Faiz Al-Najdi



— Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi can be reached at kbatarfi@gmail.com and followed at twitter: @kbatarfi