CAIRO: Egypt has drawn up a blacklist of 26 firms in Saudi Arabia that allegedly abuse its workers, of whom nearly a million work in the conservative Gulf kingdom, press reports said on Friday.
The reports come a day after Cairo barred doctors from taking up jobs in Saudi Arabia after an Egyptian medic was sentenced to 1,500 lashes and 15 years in jail for allegedly turning a Saudi princess into a drug addict.
The manpower and immigration ministry has a blacklist of 26 businesses and private companies in Saudi Arabia … with which doing business is absolutely forbidden, the independent Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper reported.
It said the listed companies are accused of deliberately mistreating Egyptians, and added that more firms may be added later.
Manpower and Migration Minister Aisha Abdul Hadi was quoted in the state-run daily Al-Gomhuria as saying the decision was taken after repeated complaints were recorded against the firms listed, alleging rights abuses.
Hospitals, hair salons and property companies are among those featuring on the blacklist.
The decision does not mean that those Egyptians already employed by the companies concerned will lose their jobs.
Egypt was angered by the Saudi decision to whip and jail Dr Raouf Amin, 53, for giving an unidentified princess morphine to ease her pain following a riding accident, which allegedly turned her into an addict.
Amin is being whipped at the rate of 10-15 lashes a week during his prison term. -AFP
