Job Discussion Forums

[johnslat]

I've just received a message from a regular on Dave's who's currently in the Kingdom. I was informed that Dave's ESL Cafe is "now blocked in Saudi."

Is this indeed the case. The person who informed me is a highly reputable source.

Regards,
John

[veiledsentiments]

If so... I would expect that it has a lot to do with Sheikher's posts. I'll email a couple of my friends and see if they can get on or not.

VS

[Sheikh N Bake]

In Humanity's Kingdom, it takes only one national to complain to the censors, and it will be done.

[Al-Mansoor]

I thought you guys were all in Saudi.

[johnslat]

Dear Al-Mansoor,

Well, my location says Santa Fe, NM. Of course, with a location such as Sheik N Bake has, I can see how some confusion might result.

I left Saudi in 2003, having spent nineteen years there working for the IPA in Jeddah ( four years) and Riyadh (fifteen years.)

Regards,
John

[egyptfan]

Yes, looks like it is blocked. Unless you have a way round such inconveniences.
Kind of shooting themselves in the foot since a lot of the dodgy jobs are advertised here too

[freesoul]

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2010102986361

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2010071778310

I guess the above links bear out that Saudis have started to fear that eslcafe will trigger an unnecessary media circus, so somebody somewhere just pushed the bottom and shut it down. seems they think that even an ant can hurt an elephant, so just squash it�.

Anyhow,if Buddha knew of or foresaw the uncontrollable flow of internet, he would�ve said: Four things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, the truth and blocked websites.

[johnslat]

Dear freesoul,

WOW - you guys are famous.

"The ESL website provides anecdotal evidence of foreign teachers unwittingly, knowingly, willingly, enthusiastically implicated in contract and visa scams. Recruitment agents and campuses are named.
These agents, many in collusion with outsourced overseas headhunters, offer illegal contracts and a variety of visas that prohibit salaried employment in KSA. I refer to 3-month business visit visas, tourist visas, and even visas specifying sponsorship of blue-collar workers. These same recruitment and English-course suppliers appoint on-site supervisors inexperienced in human resources, curriculum implementation, and assessment. Academic fraud abounds.
Aspirants, and successful candidates, with evident glee brazenly mock Labor laws and Interior�s Iqama regulations, thus lending credence to their sponsors� nefarious machinations to urgently fulfill contractual obligations signed by university administrators. Evidence on the website points to teachers applying under false pretenses: transcripts, health checks, and criminal records."


Hmm, and so are we:

"This despite advice from �seasoned KSAers� to proceed with extreme caution or, better, cease interest and apply elsewhere"


Regards,
John

[veiledsentiments]

That is an old article and has been linked here before. If it is caused by this article, why didn't they ban it months ago when it was first out?

Most of the visa scams reported in the article and here on the board are being done by government employers who have turned a blind eye to the shady recruiters that they are more and more inclined to use.

Even KAUST is hiring its foundations teachers with illegal business visas and refusing to give them IQAMAs.

I guess the Saudi government doesn't want these new teachers to be warned of their breaking Saudi law...

VS

[Grendal]

Hi All,

Grendal here sneaking in under the radar. I found a proxy just for getting on and informing you all that it can be done but you have to look around for a free one. All proxy site are blocked here if you do a google search. You have to be a little creative in your search. Obviously I can not state how creative I was or the proxy that I found.

Merry Christmas and Goodwill towards mankind.

Grendal

[Seonsaengnim]

I can confirm that the general eslcafe.com website is blocked within the magic kingdom.... specifically the main page and the forum pages... however, the sub-page for job listings is still open...

[johnslat]

Dear veiledsentiments,

An old article? Are you writing about the first link:

"Saturday, 25 December 2010"

If so, are they running it again in the paper?

[Bebsi]

Hmmm...someone, somewhere, has something to hide.

I suspect that it's not the authorities who are behind this, at least not directly, and that they have no vested interest as such. They could have been manipulated into it, and not necessarily by an institution that has been specifically named.

It could, I think, just as easily be an institution that hasn't been named or frequently named, but which belongs to a market sector that has been heavily criticized both in terms of employment practices and quality of service/education?

Surely, a case must be made to the Saudi authorities that blocking this site is counter-productive, and only serves the interests of a tiny minority?

[veiledsentiments]

Yes, I have heard from Saudi posters and it is blocked.

Grendal, could you PM me the proxy site so that I can share it.

One email suggests that it could be related to PMU and its numerous lawsuits and large number of posters blasting it for its abusive practices. Wanna bet that they are having trouble hiring? gee... I wonder why?

John... that same article was posted here in October. The date at the top of the page is the date of the last "search" apparently. But... I doubt that it is a reprint. It seems that their system doesn't show the original publish date. Not that this two month old article couldn't take that long to seep into the consciousness there...

VS

[Bebsi]

I think, VS, that we probably have a few culprits to choose from.