THOUGH the government says that this has declined in recent years, the trade in illegal work visas remains a serious issue for the kingdom. This is not simple a case of the authorities being deprived of a clear picture of how many expatriates are actually employed in Saudi Arabia. Everyone working here without proper authorisation … is taking a job that could, and indeed very often should be done by a Saudi. … The ministries of labour, finance and interior are about to launch a joint drive to crack down on the fake work permit racket. This is … welcome. It must be hoped that this campaign against the crooks will be well coordinated and that the ministries have already sorted out how they are going to work together and who will be responsible for which part of the crackdown.

…There is, of course, another way in which the issue of illegal workers could be tackled with minimum government intervention and involvement. The requirement to confirm that an expatriate is entitled to work here can be shifted firmly onto the shoulders of the person intending to employ him or her. If employers had a legal responsibility to thoroughly check the bona fides of anyone who wants to work for them and received severe penalties if they failed in this duty, the illegal permit challenge would be transformed overnight. Employers could with some justice claim that they are not equipped to detect forged documents offered to them by a prospective employee. That is clearly the job of the proper authorities. However, there already exist systems which can be refined and integrated … to allow an employer to run a simple check on the validity of a work permit number. If such a registration is not recognised then the authorities should be informed so that further checks can be conducted. ... — (May 4)