Senate Pro Tempore, Nyonblee Karnga- Lawrence has instructed the committee on Labor to scrutinize and advised Plenary on the country’s 2024 Alien work Permit analysis.
Civil Service Agency (CSA) presented the analysis for appropriate actions.
The report, which the Agency Director- General , Josiah Joekai presented to plenary on Tuesday June 17, 2025, was based on a decision reached by the Plenary of the senate requesting him to provide an in-depth analysis of work permit issuance to foreign nationals in Liberia emanating from previous report the Minister of Labor, Cooper W. Kruah submitted. Mr. Kruah is a lawyer by profession.
According to Mr. Joekai, the total work permit issued from January-December 2024 stands at 10,103.
The permits, he said, were given in three categories with Indian nationals constituting the highest at 51.79 percent.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 8,792 r𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬 (𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐉𝐨𝐛𝐬) 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 87 percent, 438 𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐭 4 percent, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 873 g𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭 (𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧/𝐍𝐨𝐧-𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭) 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 8.64 percent.
𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐀𝐟𝐜𝐨𝐧, 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐛 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐌𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 3,319 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬, 𝐁𝐞𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧, 1,895 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐌𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐥, 728 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰.
Joekai: “The decent work act provides security and protection for Liberians and foreigners to compete for jobs at the highest and managerial levels equally with emphasis on prioritizing Liberians with local expertise as in skills, knowledge and experiences.”
As of the ‘Decent Work Act,’ it states: “Before issuing a work permit, the Ministry of Labor must have established that the position for which the permit is been sorted for shall imply that no Liberian is qualified for said position and must be duly advertised and vetted before permit is given to non-Liberians.”
Based on the CSA findings, 6,156 regular jobs are occupied by aliens, which Joekai wants it reserved for Liberians that are trained and qualified to work, 315 out of 438 ECOWAS jobs, which Liberians should be benefiting from are also ben occupied by foreign nationals and 873 out of 562 gratis jobs are to be reserved for Liberians also but were sadly given to non-Liberians.
Meanwhile the senate committee on Labor is expected to make its final review and recommendations and report next Tuesday, June 24, 2025, on said matter.