Kathmandu. The government of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday announced new plans to improve the controversial sponsorship system which has been in practice in the country for the past seven decades. As per the new announcement, migrant workers can now change their jobs and leave Saudi Arabia without the employer’s permission.

The new plans will come into effect from March 2021, according to the Saudi Ministry for Human Resource and Social Security. The current sponsorship system requires a foreign worker to work for a single employer. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have called on the Saudi authorities to abolish this system, which makes workers vulnerable to abuse.

“Through this initiative we aim to build an attractive labor market and improve the working environment,”  Abdullah bin Nasser Abuthunain, deputy minister of Human Resources and Social Development for Labor,  told reporters. Abuthunain added that the step would help attract highly skilled workers

After the implementation of the new plans, foreign workers will be able to change their employers easily, but for that they must have completed their contract period. Similarly, migrant workers who have completed their contract period won’t need ‘exit permit’ to return home and also won’t require a ‘no objection letter’ to rejoin their jobs in Saudi Arabia.

Talking to DCNepal over telephone from Riyadh, Nepal’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mahendra Singh Rajput told, “It is an appreciable decision on the Saudi government’s part. Scrapping the provision requiring ‘no objection letter’ has guaranteed the migrant workers’ right to choose their job. The workers whose contract periods have expired can also return to their homeland without the employer company’s permission now.” “The implementation of the new law will be helpful for many Nepali workers,” he added.

Around 300 thousand Nepali laborers work in Saudi Arabia. The announcement made by the Saudi government is expected to benefit the Nepali workers there. Ambassador Rajput believed that the new provision would also prevent Nepalis working in Saudi Arabia from acquiring illegal status.