Saudi Arabia is taking new measures to crack down on foreigners working illegally in the world’s top oil exporter, Adel al-Fakieh, the labour minister, has said.

The new steps will include jail terms for small business owners and the hiring of 1,000 inspectors who will be accompanied by policemen when checking businesses, the minister said on Wednesday.

Firms will face penalties if they harbour illegals, Fakieh added.

“If an owner of a small enterprise conspires with an illegal foreign worker, he will be subject to sanctions,” Fakieh said.

Possible punishments will include a $26,700 fine for each illegal worker, two years in prison or both.

Fakieh said Saudi Arabia still needed foreign workers but they had to abide by the country’s laws.

“We have and will continue to have millions of foreign workers. We have 7.5 million legal foreign workers and we need them,” Fakieh told Saudi-owned MBC television this week, according to a transcript posted on the MBC website.

“We will continue to issue visas for others but those who want to come to this country have to respect the law.”

Saudi Arabia has been deporting hundreds of thousands of illegal foreign workers as part of labour market reforms designed to reduce unemployment among its own citizens, which is officially estimated at 12.0 percent.

But the crackdown could have major effects on the Saudi economy, which has for decades relied heavily on foreigners from south and South East Asia as well as Arab countries in its energy, construction and services industries.

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