Egyptians at Saudi Oger ask for their government’s intervention to end their sufferings

The Egyptians workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia called on the Ministry of Immigration and Foreigners Affairs to intervene to settle their crisis of nearly four years with Saudi Oger, which was recently liquidated after that its debts reached 21.6 billion riyals.

"The crisis started at the end of 2016 with the collapse of the company, after the war in Yemen and the drop in oil prices. The company stopped paying the workers’ salaries for 6 months, as well as the renewing of the residency, until the announcement of its closure, after its bankruptcy," said Haitham Hamdi, an employee, according to “Dostor” website

The source added that more than 120 Egyptians worked at Oger company for years, where they faced problems of displacement, and could not even pay the school fees for their children, in light of the high costs of living.

In the same context, the media sources confirmed that the Egyptian employees of this company did not receive their salaries and the end of service benefits. Moreover, they could not renew the residences in Saudi Arabia, thus, they assigned a lawyer from the Saudi Labour Office. However, after three years the case ended with a ruling confirming that the company’s money is insufficient to pay the employees' dues.

Many Egyptians working in the kingdom had to leave without their dues, whereas many of them are stuck, as they could not complete the final exit procedures because they had not been paid.

They asked for the intervention of the Ministries of Manpower and Immigration in order to facilitate the departure of these workers, whose visas expired, stressing that "Oger", which is owned by the current Lebanese Prime Minister’s family, Saad Hariri, that the workers in crisis are not only Egyptians, as there are thousands of European and Arab nationalities workers too.

It is noteworthy that the financial dues the Egyptians workers in Oger exceed 80 million pounds. The liquidation of the company, owned by the Hariri family, was announced, after 40 years since its establishment by a decision of the Executive Court in Riyadh.