A senior ministry official has said that despite the crackdown on the shady operations, the racket is still on. “We have caught several cases and transferred the accused to court,” said the official.
Most cases, according to Brigadier Nasser Mohamed Eisa Al Sayed, Director of the Search and Follow-up Department (SFD) of the ministry, involve expatriates. “The shady expatriates target their own compatriots as victims.”
According to Al Sayed, the modus operandi of the operators is that they exploit citizens and get work visas from them and then sell them to their fellow nationals (in their respective countries) for a profit.
“Experience suggests that a Qatari who is exploited for obtaining a work visa is more susceptible to a key expatriate employee who has direct access to him when he travels overseas.”
“We will continue to clamp down on the illicit (visa) trade,” the official reiterated.
The SFD, he said, was setting up a Court of Appeals at its court premises.
The department’s existing court hears cases of alleged violations of the law that regulates foreigners’ entry, exit, residence and sponsorship, and orders their deportation.
Apart from runaway workers who are caught or surrender to the authorities, others violating the law (Number 4 of 2009) are those without a valid residence permit, those illegally operating private taxis, begging, or working with companies or households that are not their sponsors.
Al Sayed said the appeals unit at his department’s court would be established soon after Eid Al Fitr.
Talking about runaway workers who surrender to his department, he said their repatriation procedures were easier than those for persons who are caught.
“But we conduct a thorough investigation and find out who provided shelter and or work to the runaway worker in the interim.”
Investigations are also necessary because some runaway workers need to collect their dues, he said. “They are immediately repatriated after that.”
About the interaction the interior ministry had with representatives of various expatriate communities last Sunday on issues related to visas and residence permits as well as community policing, among other things, the official said such meetings had increased awareness about the laws, customs and traditions of the country.
Al Sayed said their experience suggested that interacting with the media, too, had its benefits, since it helped raise public awareness.
