More than 400,000 expatriate workers in Saudi “escaped” from their sponsors in 2012 or took exit/re-entry visas and never came back, it was reported.
A Ministry of Labour report looked at male and female expatriates for 13 of the kingdom’s regions, Saudi daily Al-Madina reported.
Of the 409,950 expatriate workers who left their sponsors, the report found male workers represented the higher percentage who went on overseas vacations and never returned to the kingdom.
In Riyadh 64,257 men and 2,187 females “escaped” from their employers, while a further 76,302 males and 1,460 females went on holidays under exit/re-entry visa arrangements and never came back.
Madinah came second with 27,530 expatriates leaving – 1,764 of whom were females. In Al-Qassim 6,768 male workers and 1,764 females left their sponsors.
The report said that overall for those who travelled to their home countries, 14,958 male and 233 female workers never returned from their annual vacations.
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