Saudi Arabia has said it will begin procedures to legalise the residency status of Yemenis living in the kingdom without proper authority, following a request from the Yemen Presidential Council.
The move was ordered by King Salman in response to the request from Rashad Al Alimi, the head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The announcement, which came a day after Mr Alimi declared all-out war on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, could have implications beyond the legal status of those affected.
Saudi Arabia is home to an estimated 1.9 million Yemenis. The kingdom accounts for about 62 per cent of remittances sent to Yemen, making it by far the most important source of income sent home by Yemenis abroad.
Legal status could give irregular residents greater access to formal employment and financial services, potentially making it easier to send money to relatives in Yemen, while also reinforcing Saudi Arabia’s standing among a population with close family and economic ties to the kingdom.
The Interior Ministry said the process would be carried out with the Foreign Ministry, the Human Resources Ministry and the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority.
Yemenis seeking to benefit from the measure must hold a valid Yemeni passport, the ministry said.
It added that the date for starting the process and the applicable rules would be announced through official accounts of the General Directorate of Passports and other relevant authorities.
chairman of Yemen’s Shura Council
Ahmed Obaid bin Dagher, chairman of Yemen’s Shura Council, welcomed the decision, saying it would have a significant effect on thousands of Yemenis and their families.
“The leadership of the Shura Council and its members welcomed the generous directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud,” Mr Bin Dagher said in a statement.
He said the council expressed “deep thanks and appreciation to the kingdom and its leadership for this fraternal and humanitarian gesture”.
He said the move reflected Saudi Arabia’s “continued commitment to alleviating” the hardships faced by the Yemeni people and supporting them.
“These generous directives will have a significant impact on the lives of thousands of Yemenis and their families,” said Mr Bin Dagher.
He described the decision as an extension of what he called Saudi Arabia’s “steadfast fraternal positions and its continued support for Yemen and its people”.
The Saudi announcement also comes as the kingdom mounts nationwide enforcement campaigns targeting violations of residency, labour and border-security rules.
Saudi authorities recorded 11,819 such violations between September 24 and 30, including 5,793 residency violations.
On Sunday, Mr Al Alimi announced the start of military operations to retake territory held by the Houthi rebels.
The move to regularise the status of Yemenis in Saudi Arabia echoes a similar programme introduced in 2015, at the start of the kingdom’s intervention in Yemen.
