MIDDLE EAST: Indigenisation Policies Hit Expatriates

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Meena Janardhan

MUSCAT, Dec 14 2005 (IPS) - ”It’s time to go home,” said Omer Ali, a Pakistani salesman in a supermarket in the capital of Oman, ‘‘Jobs in many sectors are no longer open to expatriates with this Omanisation drive going on and many of my friends have returned home.”

Ali’s words echo a harsh reality that many expatriates are waking up to in the Middle East, especially in countries like Oman and Bahrain with smaller oil revenues, growing unemployment and a willingness among nationals to accept occupations dominated, so far, by foreigners.

In Oman’s private sector, the number of expatriates has fallen by 24.4 percent since January 2003. Statistics reveal that more than 134,000 expatriates left their jobs over the last three years.

The country’s single largest industrial enterprise Oman LNG had by 2004, achieved 73 percent Omanisation of its staff through a plan to initially use foreign expertise and skills and then train Omanis to take over the operation and management of its plants.

Some 350,000 foreign workers and their families, mostly Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Filipinos, and Sri Lankans live in Oman, a country with a total population of two million people.

The high percentage of foreigners in the work force, combined with improvements in the country’s education system, has prompted the government to institute a program of indigenisation whereby Omani nationals gradually replace foreigners who were instrumental in building the country’s infrastructure and administration.

‘‘Omanisation policies of the government cover all socio-economic activities. The Omanisation campaign is not only meant to ensure jobs for citizens but also to reduce dependence on expatriates. Self-reliance in human resources is the government’s top priority more than ever before,” said a senior official.

According to government statistics, the total number of expatriate workers in the private sector with valid work permits stood lower at 415,135 at the end of July 2005 compared with 549,338 at the end of Jan. 2003. In seven months, from Dec. 2004 to Jul. 2005, more than 9,000 expatriates left their jobs.

‘‘The government has already banned us from selling and transporting fruit and vegetables in several regions of the country. We cannot engage in frankincense trade or in the sale of mobile phones in certain cities. Running beauty parlours and photo studios is now for nationals only and even the sale of ‘abayas’ – the traditional Arabic full-length female robe – is reserved for Omani women. Where does all this leave us?” asked Renita Fernadez, an Indian hotel receptionist in Salalah, a leading tourist destination in Oman.

The government also intends to restrict the selling of perfumes, gifts, textiles and accessories and the running of cyber cafes to its own nationals.

Since Jan. 2003, the number of expatriates engaged in agriculture and fishing sector fell 32 percent, from 66,000 to 45,000 in Jul. 2005. More than 59,000 expatriate workers left the wholesale, retail trade and car repairs sector, making the total number of expatriates working in these areas as low as 89,461 as against 148,516 in Jan. 2003.

The number of foreign domestic workers stood, in Jul. 2005, at 53,395 as against 67,676 in Jan. 2003. The education sector witnessed a 10 percent drop to 4,528 as against 5,027 in Jan. 2003.

The development of human resources is a critical issue as 75 percent of the Sultanate’s population constitutes nationals and 55 percent of them are under the age of 20 years, which means they are poised to enter the workforce.

By contrast, the oil-rich United Arab Emirates (UAE), next door, continues to depend heavily on expatriates and, out of a population of slightly more than four million, an overwhelming 3.3 million are non- nationals. .

Elsewhere in the region, the Bahrain workforce is set to undergo rapid change as well. Growing unemployment and falling per capita income levels have made Bahraini nationals willing to undertake even menial tasks for a living.

A study by the National Studies Centre in 2002 stated that around 16 percent of Bahrain’s population lives below the poverty line, which was set at a salary of 337 Bahraini dinars per month (900 US dollars) and that 53 percent of Bahrainis employed in the private sector earn less than 200 Bahraini dinars (530 dollars).

According to a recent survey carried out by Bahraini businesswomen Fatima Ahmed and Jameela Mohanna, almost 70 percent of Bahraini men and women have no qualms about taking on domestic work.

The survey, aimed at assessing supply of and demand for Bahraini domestic staff, found most willing to work as babysitters, caregivers for the elderly or as drivers or gardeners. Some were, in fact, ready to work in any of these positions immediately.

There was a strange twist though. Only 10 percent of respondents were willing to employ a Bahraini male or female in the same positions, citing reasons of privacy, danger of romantic involvement, confusion about ways of treating them and worries about immediate family concerns.

Rima Sabban, a Dubai-based sociologist, however, says that this issue needs more careful study. ‘‘Historically, in Bedouin culture, it is considered a sin to work in other houses for money. Hence, we need to follow up this issue with more research and facts.”

But Sabban noted that Arab women in the cities were moving away from Bedouin culture and the new readiness to take on domestic work could be a consequence, she told IPS.

Many expatriates who worked previously as domestics now prefer to work as cleaners in offices and factories resulting in a greater demand for domestic workers and a chance for poorer nationals to find employment more easily.

According to an officially commissioned study, carried out by the firm of McKinsey, up to 20,000 locals may be unemployed in Bahrain, which translates into a joblessness rate of 16 percent.

The international rights organisation, Social Watch, based in Montevideo, Uruguay, warns in its 2005 Annual Report that Bahrain’s unemployment rate could increase from its current level of 16 percent unless a policy shift is made.

Stating that the gap between rich and poor is too big in the country, the report also states that the large difference between the official GDP per capita and the actual GDP per capita is due to the income gap between a small, wealthy elite and the large number of poor citizens.