Sponsor no-show hampers status correction exercise

November 1, 2013

Jeddah, Nov 1: With the Nov. 3 deadline for work status correction rapidly approaching, many expats are now being told that they are required to report to the Passport Department with their previous sponsors to finalize procedures.

“I’ve taken the steps to correct my status with the Labor Ministry well within the window of time provided by the ministry. Yet I am now faced with the new requirement that my sponsor accompanies me,” said one Egyptian expat.

“I have tried to get my sponsor to come, as have many in my situation, but many sponsors simply refuse to show up. Some even resort to bribery. I’m not saying that all of them do this, but pursuing such a request is redundant. It’s an unfortunate waste of time and effort. I have repeatedly requested my sponsor’s attendance over the last four months to no avail.”

Expats must then file a summons or complaint order to their sponsor through the governorate. They must go through these motions three times before the Passport Department finalizes their exit procedures.

Fathi Ismail Hasanain, labor attaché at the Egyptian Consulate in Jeddah, ensures that the extension has greatly benefited expats.

“It has been a tremendous plus point for expats. The extension gave many another chance to sort out their status. But even with the extension, we may not have enough time to help our citizens, given the immense numbers we face at our consulate and embassy. We hope another extension will be considered. Three to six months is all that’s needed to see these matters through properly,” said Hasanain.

“The Passport Department has to realize that many of us have been entrenched in such requests for months now and we can prove it as well. In the end, we’re held accountable because of the sponsors’ noncompliance,” said another Egyptian expat.

Hasanain noted the consulate’s recognition of the ministry’s efforts, but emphasized that the Passport Department needs to increase the numbers of employees tending to expats and that the ministry should consider another extension.

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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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