RIYADH, Dec 14: The Saudi labour ministry has set up a new department to protect expatriate workers from abusive employers, Labour Minister Dr Ghazi Al Gosaibi disclosed.

"The department for protecting expatriate workers from employers will start its activities next week to look into cases of inhuman dealings faced by foreign workers from their sponsors," Al Madinah Arabic daily quoted Mr Gosaibi as saying.

He said the ministry had so far taken action against 30 Saudi employers for mistreating domestic servants. "The ministry will continue to prevent individuals and companies which mistreat their workers or fail to pay their dues from recruiting foreign workers," said Ahmed Al Zamil, deputy minister for labour affairs.

There are more than six million expatriate workers in the kingdom, most of them working for private companies and individuals.