REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- A total of 484 Indonesians who overstayed their visas in Saudi Arabia arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport by Garuda flight on Sunday after obtaining amnesty from the Saudi government.

The Indonesians who consisted of 404 women and 80 children and infants arrived at the airport at 07.15 p.m. local time, five hours behind schedule.

The delay occurred after the Garuda Boeing 747-400 plane which carried them had technical trouble at Jedda Airport.

According to a report received by National Labor Placement and Protection Agency (BNP2TKI) chief Moh Jumhur Hidayat from Indonesian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Gatot Abdullah Mansyur and Foreign Affairs Ministry's Chief for Legal Aid and Protection of Indonesians Abroad Tatang Budhie Razak, the plane was supposed to leave Jedda at 00.15 a.m. on Sunday.

But because the plane had to have its damaged wheel replaced the flight was delayed for five hours, the report said.

Jumhur said the 484 were part of 7,885 Indonesians who had been put at shelter houses pending their repatriation.

It took quite long time for the Saudi authorities to process applications from the Indonesians for exit permits, he said.

He praised the Saudi government for granting amnesty to the Indonesians who had overstayed their visas in the country.

Any migrant worker who was found without permit in Saudi Arabia could be sentenced to up to two years in jail and fined 300 million riyals, he said.

"This (amnesty) is worthy of praise," Jumhur said when greeting the arrival of the 484 Indonesians.

Last May 11, the Saudi government announced it would give migrant workers who have overstayed their visas a chance to register themselves with their country's representative office in the Kingdom and get a passport-like document.

Those who obtain the document would be given a choice between returning home and continuing to work in Saudi Arabia. The deadline for completing the registration is November 3, after which workers staying illegally in the country will be detained and their employers will be fined.

There are about 300,000 Indonesian workers who have overstayed their visa in Saudi Arabia. Till now, 90,481 have obtained the passport-like document, with only 20 percent (or about 18,000 people) expressing a wish to return to Indonesia. As for the remaining workers who have decided to continue working in Saudi Arabia, the challenge is to find employment as soon as possible as the document is valid for only one year.

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