JEDDAH — Hundreds of Egyptian overstayers gathered in front of their country's Consulate General in Jeddah in an attempt to provoke the authorities into deporting them home. Consul General Adel El-Alfy commented on the repeated efforts of his predecessors to take action against travel agencies who leave behind pilgrims who then violate the conditions of their visas. Action will be taken against those agencies that arrange Umrah trips and then leave them behind. The outcome of such efforts is a reduced number of Umrah overstayers from thousands to a few hundreds this year, he added. The overstayers started gathering around the consulate soon after Haj and even before official departments went back to work. Personnel from the consulate advised the crowd to move once the consulate opened for business. El-Alfy added: “I have to affirm that the Saudi authorities were really cooperative and we appreciated their efforts to resolve this issue. “They gave priority to Egyptians even though they work with many communities who need the same sort of support. “They even put in extra hours to facilitate the completion of the procedures and worked hard to finish the paperwork for these overstayers. “The numbers of completed procedures daily went up from 25 to 50 and even reached 170 one day. “I also have to say that the negative coverage of the issue by a section of the media had a bad impact on the efforts of the consulate and Saudi authorities to complete deportation procedures for overstayers.” The consulate tried to convince the Egyptians gathered by the consulate to stay in alternative accommodation prepared in cooperation with the Saudi authorities where pilgrims could get shelter and food for only SR10 daily, yet they refused. The overstayers entered Saudi Arabia with Umrah visas. However, they violated their permit period and stayed on to perform Haj. Many procedures have to be completed before any of them can leave the country. These procedures involve providing documentation and administrative work that might take a whole working day for each overstayer. Every overstayer must be identified, especially those who have no passports but only a copy of it or their Egyptian ID. The overstayer pays for the air ticket home, although in cases where they do not have enough money the consulate can pay. It coordinates with the Ministry of Interior in Egypt to ensure the pilgrims pay the money back when they return home. In addition, the Egyptian community sometimes provides donations and Egypt Air offers discounts on air tickets to help overstayers return home, added El-Alfy. He added: “Efforts are being carried out by both the Saudi and Egyptian sides to minimize recurrence of such incidents, especially as these violators undermine efforts to crack down on overstayers during the Haj season. “We are working all the time to sort out this problem and others as well. The consulate's role is not only to sort out existing complications but also to work with Egyptian and Saudi authorities to find ways to stop such problems from happening again.” Mohammad Burhan, in charge of the expatriates department at the consulate, praised the efforts of the Saudi authorities. He revealed both the Saudi authorities and the consulate are working closely to complete the needed procedures. The total number of overstayers that completed their procedures and have traveled or are ready to travel in a day or two is 800, while another 80 are left and they will be leaving within the next few days, he added. One main problem is that some of the overstayers do not have their passports and the consulate has to issue special travel documents for them. In addition, some had exit visas and are still in the Kingdom and this requires even more paperwork. The number of cases handled daily by the Saudi authorities is high and their officials have been patient in dealing with the issue, Burhan added. Commenting on reports that an Egyptian citizen was shot in his foot in Madinah, El-Alfy said it was an incident that might happen anywhere in the world. He said the victim lived in the same building with the perpetrators. Saudi police have arrested two suspects and are still searching for four others.
