Measures underway to reduce foreign employment in Yemen

The Yemeni Ministry of Work and Vocational Training has begun to apply measures to reduce Yemen's reliance on foreign employment to create job opportunities for Yemeni citizens.

The Yemeni minister of work and vocational training, Mohammed El-Taiib said the Cabinet resolution no 14 of 1998 concerning the regulation of foreign employment in the state, adding that the resolution authorizes the ministry of work as the only authority that can give a "work license" to the foreign workers.

The resolution also obliges the passport and immigration services not to issue any visas unless the recipient has an activated work license.

Some statistics show that 26,000 non-Yemeni workers possess work licenses in Yemen, but the ministry says there are more than 100,000 expatriates working in Yemen while Yemeni unemployment varies between 25 and 30%.