12% rise in expats, dependency on contracting firms irk Shoura

September 9, 2014

Jeddah, Sep 9: A Shoura Council member has urged the Labor Ministry not to allow major companies to circumvent Saudization laws by signing accords with subcontractors run mostly by expatriates.

“Cutting down on the number of jobs at big national companies and giving their positions to contracting and small firms will have a negative impact on qualitative nationalization of jobs,” said Fahaad Al-Hamad, assistant president quoting the Shoura member.

The member was referring to the practice of major Saudi companies that show 100 percent Saudization but depend on contracting firms run by expatriates for many of their jobs.

There was a 12 percent increase in the number of expatriate workers compared to 2013, despite the government’s move to drive out residency and labor rule violators, Al-Hamad quoted another member as saying.

He also pointed out that the number of unemployed Saudis rose by 3.3 percent this year to 622,000, urging the Labor Ministry to give reasons for this increase despite its efforts to find jobs for Saudis through various programs.

During a discussion on the ministry’s report, another Shoura member emphasized the need to focus on enhancing the professional capabilities and skills of Saudi workers through intensive training.

A female member questioned the ministry for not opening enough offices for employment of women. “Saudi women require greater support from the ministry to get jobs and improve employment conditions.”

The ministry was also questioned for not taking effective measures to supply adequate number of maids required by Saudi families.

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UN condemns Israeli regime’s ‘organized torture’ against Palestinians

News Network

November 30,2025

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has condemned the Israeli regime for enforcing a policy of “organized torture” against Palestinians.

In a report published on Friday, CAT stated that the occupying regime enforces a deliberate policy of “organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment” against Palestinian abductees, particularly since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza.

The committee expressed “deep concern over repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence” inflicted on Palestinians.

Palestinian prisoners were degraded by “being made to act like animals or being urinated on,” systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation,” the report added.

CAT also condemned the routine application of “unlawful combatants law” to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.

More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian and international human rights groups, with 3,474 Palestinians in “administrative detention,” meaning they are imprisoned without trial for indefinite periods.

The report highlighted the “high proportion of children who are currently detained without charge or on remand,” noting that while Israel sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12, even younger children have been abducted.

Children designated as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, may be subjected to solitary confinement, and are denied access to education, in clear violation of international law.

The committee further suggested that Israel’s policies across the Occupied Territories constitute collective torture against the Palestinian population.

“A range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population,” the report said.

On Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas condemned the systematic killing and torture of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, urging international action to halt these abuses.

Citing human rights data, Hamas stated that 94 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli prisons since the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“This reflects an organized criminal approach that has turned these prisons into direct killing grounds to eliminate our people,” the resistance movement said.

Hamas called on the international community, the UN, and human rights organizations to immediately pressure Israel to end crimes against prisoners and uphold their rights as guaranteed by all international conventions and norms.

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