MUSCAT // Asif Shambe usually avoids mosques and other public places, but along with thousands of other hungry and broke illegal workers here, he braves the risk of deportation each evening during Ramadan for a free iftar meal. This year, the government began taking action against illegal immigrants in Oman by imposing a fine of 2,000 rials (Dh19,100) for every illegal worker employed by a company or individual, with one month imprisonment for repeat offenders.
Labour inspectors have rounded up and sent home about 70,000 illegal workers in the past year, but at least 20,000 remain, according to local newspaper reports citing manpower ministry statistics. As the government's crackdown on illegal immigrants intensifies, the remaining illegal workers are struggling to find jobs, raising concern for their day-to-day survival. "This year, there are more illegal workers at these free iftar meals than the last Ramadan because it has been very difficult to get jobs with the government putting the pressure on employers," Mr Shambe, 33, an electrician from India, said.
Mr Shambe has been in Oman for four years, the past three illegally after he absconded from his employer for not paying his monthly visa commission. He and thousands like him work in temporary jobs for companies or individuals looking for cheap labour. Most of the men sleep in parks and construction sites, and survive on food offered by compatriots employed legally by companies. They normally go underground and keep away from crowded places to escape arrest, but the traditional lull of Ramadan, with government inspectors easing their crackdown, encourages illegal workers to come out in the open, another illegal immigrant said.
"Ramadan is a month the labour inspectors look the other way because it is a period of forgiveness and charity. Naturally, we take advantage of it and come out more in the open to look for jobs, or cash handouts and even get free iftars," said Zulfikar Afzal, 44, a Pakistani plumber who has been an illegal immigrant in Oman for six years. A labour inspector agreed that there was a tacit agreement among them to suspend their hunt for illegal workers during Ramadan.
"It is true that we don't do it. We give them kind of a grace period in the true spirit of the holy month," Shaaban Raid, a government labour inspector in Muscat, said. The "true Ramadan spirit" became evident this week for Mr Afzal, when he found himself sharing iftar with a labour inspector in his mosque's courtyard. "It was only after the meal I was told by my friends who he was, but he was not there to do his job," Mr Afzal said.
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