Oman expatriate population touches 1.766 million

Muscat: Expatriate population in Oman edged up 0.28 per cent to touch 1.7659 million by the end of February 2014, as against 1.7614 million in the previous month.

This constitutes 44.2 per cent of the country's total population of 3.9919 million, of which 2.2260 million people or 55.8 per cent are nationals, according to the latest monthly statistical bulletin of the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

Of the total 1.7659 million expatriates, 1.5345 million are employees working in various sectors and the remaining 232,000 people are their family members.

It appears that the growth in the flow of foreign workers is mainly driven by the construction sector, especially infrastructure projects. In fact, the government has allocated OMR3.2 billion or 24 per cent of overall public expenditure as investment expenditure.

The NCSI report also showed that Indian workers lead different nationalities with 597,334 employees,  followed by Bangladeshis (508,774), Pakistanis (223,219), Ethiopians (44,411), Indonesians (30,734), Filipinos (29,251), Egyptians (23,094), Nepalese (12,806) and Sri Lankans (12,468).

Among expatriate workers, 1.25 million are working in the private sector, 56,468 in the government sector and 227,238 are employed by families in families, noted the report.  The government of Oman has been trying to reduce the country's dependence on the foreign workforce in an apparent move to create job opportunities for the nationals.

Muscat has the largest expatriate working population of 664,639, followed by Al Batinah North at 202,150 and Dhofar at 179,111.

2-year ban for expats returns

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For representation purpose only. File photo

Muscat: Effective July 1, 2014, the 'two year ban' on expat workforce in Oman will be back. In an announcement, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) has said no employment visa will be issued after July 1, 2014 to any foreigner who previously worked in the Sultanate and has not completed two years from the date of last departure, in keeping with the requirements of expatriates residency law and its implementing regulations. The step is being taken in coordination with the authorities concerned with recruitment of foreigners. A reliable source at the ROP explained that the law has been in existence for a long time but is being enforced now. "The ROP decided that it was the right time to activate the law as we have received many recommendations from businessmen and enterprise owners," said the ROP source. "The decision bans the expatriate workforce to join another company before completing two full years from the date of departure," said the ROP source. If an expatriate worker has not completed two years after departure and is called to rejoin the same company after leaving the Sultanate, then such a worker will be exempt from the new decision. Salim Al Ghammari, a member of the Municipal Council, said, "It is a positive move by the Royal Oman Police to put in place some controls in the expatriate employment." The decision will help maintain a balance in issuance of visas for different nationalities, he noted. "Controlling the number of expatriates will help in regulating the labour market in Oman, especially if the government stops issuing visas to those expatriates who did not complete two years after leaving the Sultanate," said Al Ghammari. He further added that the Council had recommended strict regulations for bringing expatriate workforce to the Sultanate.