The just-started reforms of the Saudi judicial system cannot come soon enough. In this piece appearing in Arab News, the Minister of Justice explains why the reforms are so critically needed. It’s noteworthy that he offered his explanation on a national TV show, though viewership ratings of the Saudi governmental channels leaves something to be desired. Perhaps he’ll also take his message to MBC or Al-Arabiya, though Al-Jazeera, politically difficult at the moment, would be nice, too.
Judicial reform aims to secure people’s rights, says minister
Galal Fakkar | Arab NewsJEDDAH: The Ministry of Justice has entered a new era with the launch of a strategic plan to enhance the Kingdom’s judicial system. Justice Minister Abdullah bin Ibrahim Al-Asheikh said the plan — named Adl (Justice) — would cover all activities under the ministry, including courts, judges, lawyers, marriage contracts and commercial registrations.
He said the plan would enhance the accreditation system in duties and rights such as patent rights, copyright and intellectual property rights.
In an interview with Saudi TV’s Channel 1, Al-Asheikh said the plan would facilitate court procedures, expand the establishment of specialized courts, support development and investment programs, and expedite court litigations.
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Saudi Gazette has a piece on how the current judicial system is failing to get a handle on trafficking in humans:
Islam against slavery, truth yet to be delivered: Official
Fares Al-QahtaniRIYADH – The court system in the Kingdom has failed to clearly criminalize human trafficking from an Islamic perspective in the international human rights groups, said Nasser Al-Shahrani, head of the administrative committee at the Commission for Investigation and Prosecution Sunday.
Al-Shahrani’s comment came during the activities of the second day of the third scholarly symposium on human trafficking organized by the Ministry of Justice and the Naif Arab University for Security Sciences (NAUSS) at the university campus here.
An anti-human trafficking law has been submitted to the King for final approval, he said. The law, guided by the Islamic Shariah, comes in line with international laws combating human trafficking as to prevent it, criminalize it from an Islamic perspective, and to protect its victims.
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Human trafficking is truly a shame on Saudi Arabia and Saudis themselves. The story notes that Asian children can be (and are being) bought for as little as $500. This provides ample grist for the Saudi-bashing mill which, not incorrectly, points to it and declares ‘Slavery is not dead in Saudi Arabia’. It’s certainly time to rid the country of this blight.
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January:12:2009 - 10:57
Sadly enough, I think this is one issue (human trafficking) where “but this happens in the USA, too” isn’t just a defensive platitude.
We should start by clarifying human trafficking: if a recruiter in Dubai (or more likely for the H1B agricultural visa, Mexico) — who works in partnership with a US-based recruiter (with a US-based immigration lawyer) who themselves have been hired by a company — if this recruiter lies to his potential employers about their visa status (it begins with a false advertisement in a paper like Gulf News, for example, promising a Green Card but months later, after thousand of dollars have been paid and all the procedures have been completed and the papers are handed to a worker as he is literally boarding a plane to the USA on a ticket he paid for under the auspice of eventual permanent resident with his family) — that is not only human trafficking but also racketeering: two crimes in one.
US companies, and US-based recruiters then blame down the chain, saying, well, technically it was the foreign recruiter that broke the law. Lawyers defending these workers are arguing that negligence and lack of due diligence is not an adequate defense.
Also: workers in many cases have arrived in the USA to discover their skills sets reduced (hired as a Level One welder after extensive testing, then having the skills set reduced to Level Three after arrival, so their pay is reduced). For H2B workers: they work “at will.” This means that, for example, a hotel housekeeper can be taken off the payroll and called for duty only during peak times. One person in New Orleans showed a paycheck of less than three dollars — this was the total of his work for two weeks, minus the daily deductions employers can charge for housing (in his case, he simply sat around in his hotel room waiting to be called for work). For somebody who believed he would be making maybe $400 a week and borrowed money against that, this amounts to a human right violation (his family back home, waiting for remittances, get none while they’re leaned on by their debtors and the male of the household can sometimes fear that his family could be in danger if he can’t pay back the money — or if he complains and it gets back to his local recruiter).
“At will” employment also means that the worker can be terminated at any time for any reason and sent back home — in the case of H2B visa workers, at his own expense! Obviously this means the worker will not complain about working conditions out of fear of being fired and deported. The DHS recommends that employers act to detain workers they’re about to fire so they don’t flee.
In forestry (a major employer in the USA for foreign temps) there have been numerous cases of workers not being paid overtime or having their salaries garnished.
Interesting to note that H1B (agricultural) workers have more rights and H2B (non-agricultural) workers.
Meanwhile, I also find it interesting that the people who vote Republican are often anti-migrant, while the Republicans they vote for talk about “jobs Americans won’t do” and actively work to increase the number of these visas.
Personally, I don’t have any problem with “legals” but the abuses are rampant in the USA and getting worse not better.
Also I have proof — after extensive research — that when it comes to ENTRY-LEVEL H2-B workers (the bottom 20 for sure, and probably up tot he bottom 40 or bottom 50), they are no doubt being paid less than what employers would pay Americans, so we’re displacing low-income Americans for entry level work in stuff like welding and construction. And many of these cases involve racketeering and human trafficking across international borders with no accountability.
January:12:2009 - 16:35
I think that you’ve provided a fair summary of the problems with the H2-B visas! While they are subject to abuse–as are other visas, as for domestic help–I don’t think they rise to quite the level of Saudi abuse, but that doesn’t actually make them ‘better’. Abusing workers is wrong, whether they’re in unions, trying to form unions, or don’t care about unions. It’s wrong whether it’s in the US or Saudi Arabia, in China or Hyderabad.