Friday 26 / July / 2024
Muscat: More than 400 expatriate workers were arrested by a joint team from the Ministry of Manpower and Royal Oman Police (ROP) for violating labour laws in just seven days.
In raids conducted between July 31 and August 6, across different parts of Oman, 403 labour law violators were arrested.
“Of them, 314 were working with commercial establishments, 54 as domestic workers and 35 in farming sector. From the arrested 381 were deported,” the Ministry of Manpower said in a tweet.
The Muscat Governorate topped the list of arrested workers, with 173 of them being arrested, followed by the North Al Batinah Governorate which made 84 arrests.
Between July 24 and 30, in raids 378 labour law violators were arrested and between July 17 and July 23, 584 were arrested on same charges.
The Ministry of Manpower data reveals that 19,056 labour law violators were arrested in 2015.
The Muscat Governorate topped the list of arrested workers, with 8.232 of them being arrested.
The Ministry of Manpower data also reveals that out of the 19,056 labour law violators, 13,172 were Bangladeshis, 1,728 were Indians and 2,913 were Pakistanis.Out of the 19,056 arrested, 9,389 were deported, by the Ministry of Manpower.
According to Oman Labour Law Article 114, a non-Omani employee who works in Oman, without a licence from the concerned directorate, or works with any employer, other than the employer who obtained a licence to bring him to the Sultanate Oman, shall be punished.
Recently, a top official at the Ministry of Manpower said that government raids to catch expats working with incorrect visas will be intensified.
“Government is aware that the Labour Law violations are a little high so the inspections are high. The number of expats is growing. Similarly, the violations are growing. So, the inspections will also be increased,” Said Salem Al Saadi, the advisor to the Minister of Manpower, had said.
