17.7 Million GCC Citizens Move by ID in 2013

(MENAFN- QNA) A report prepared by the information sector of the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Arab States, has shown a significant increase in number of the Council's citizens who have moved by ID card among its member States in 2013, reaching 17.7 million citizens of which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia received more than six million, followed by the Kingdom of Bahrain with a number of 5.7 million, United Arab Emirates by 1.3 million, Qatar by a half million and Oman by 600,000 GCC citizens.
The citizens of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia came at the forefront of the beneficiaries of the Council's resolution on facilitating the movement and residence in other GCC member States, where 8.6 million Saudis moved among GCC member States, followed by Kuwaitis and Bahrainis by 2.8 million each, then the Qataris and Omanis by 1.2 million each, and Emiratis with a number of 1.1 million. This comes in the context of the benefit of the GCC common market's decisions and GCC citizenship's decisions from which a decision by the Council on equality of GCC's citizens working in the private sector with the citizens of each of the GCC member State at workplace, in addition to another decision on the application of "complete equality of treatment" among the citizens of the GCC member countries in work in private sectors and on "removing the restrictions that prevent it." GCC's Ministers of Labor and Social Affairs have also adopted special working programs to increase employment opportunities and facilitate the movement of national labor force among the GCC member countries in the private sector.
Furthermore, the GCC Citizens working in other GCC member States are benefiting from the insurance protection extension system covering the Council's citizens which was approved by the GCC summit in Manama in 2004 to be optional for a period of just one year with effect from January 2005, and to be mandatory as of January 2006.
On the other hand, the statistics show the positive effects of the decision of the GCC Supreme Council on the provision of insurance protection for citizens working in other GCC member States where such statistics show that large numbers of them have benefited from the system of protection extension.