More than 17,000 firms in Saudi Arabia that are in the "red zone" of the Nitaqat nationalization scheme for not employing a single national, are under the spotlight of a major campaign to be launched by Labour Ministry, a report said.

More than 17,000 firms in Saudi Arabia that are in the "red zone" of the Nitaqat nationalization scheme for not employing a single national, are under the spotlight of a major campaign to be launched next month by Labour Ministry, a report said.

“There are 17,314 red-zone firms in different parts of the Kingdom that employ 241,530 foreign workers,” a source was quoted as saying in the Arab News report.

These workers will be allowed to migrate to companies in the green and platinum zones for having a more than sufficient Saudi-to-expat ratio, the report quoted the source.

“Labour officials will ask the owners of these firms to show evidence that suggests that they did not allow their workers to look for jobs in the market because workers would not have valid resident permits,” the source said.

Ibrahim Badawood, managing director of ALJ Community Services, told Arab News that the campaign was not targeted against foreign workers.

According to Badawood, companies that improve their Saudi-to-expat ratio would be given more visas to employ experienced foreign workers.

The report quoted Capt Abdul Aziz Al-Harbi, Eastern Province police spokesman, as saying that nearly 82,000 illegal workers were arrested in the region during this Hijrah year.