Saudi sponsors to pay for deporting illegal workers - report

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia will make sponsors and employers of foreigners working illegally in the country pay the cost of deporting them, under new rules approved by the cabinet, the Saudi Gazette reported on Monday.

The world's top oil exporter is cracking down on illegal expatriate workers in an effort to move more Saudi citizens into private sector jobs. Tens of thousands of people have been deported in recent months as government inspectors descended on businesses that have long bent the rules to hire foreigners, who are often paid less than Saudi nationals.