Jeddah, Mar 12: The police have been arresting 1,250 illegal expatriates daily on average in Makkah region as part of its latest crackdown on foreigners violating the country’s residency and labor laws, according to a senior police officer.
The government views these workers as infiltrators, who must be penalized, Maj. Gen. Abdul Aziz bin Osman Al-Suli said at a press conference here, according to a report carried by a local publication on Wednesday.
Al-Suli said that Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif, second deputy premier and minister of interior, was following up on operations. Police officers would arrest all violators because they are affecting the country’s security, he said. He added that the Shumaisi Deportation Center is well equipped and can accommodate more than 40,000 people.
Meanwhile, the Passports Department has made arrangements with Saudi Arabian Airlines to deport more than 102,000 illegal workers, according to reports on Wednesday.
Dhaifallah bin Sattam Al-Houwaifi, deputy director general of the Passport Department, said that over the past five months about 110,000 people have been imprisoned for breaking the country’s labor and residency laws. There were also 150,000 taken to the Shumaisi center, he said.
He said that investigators check to see whether people have broken the law before charging, imprisoning or deporting them. If the department decides to deport them, it works with their embassies to get travel documents. Their biometric details are also recorded, he said.
In Najran, Labor Ministry officials met several businessmen and contractors to brief them on the regulations and the current inspection campaign. Khaled Al-Attallah, director general of the Najran labor office, said officials at branches in Habbouna and Sharoura have so far uncovered various violations.
The police have arrested 5,000 violators and 13 beggars, in raids carried out with other government agencies, said Al-Attallah. The operations included shopping centers, restaurants and cafeterias, he said.
In Madinah, police officers arrested 26 people for violating labor and residency laws, said Col. Fahd Al-Ghannam, the city’s police spokesperson.
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