RIYADH — Saudi authorities have arrested about 4.068 million foreigners who were living in the country in violation of the labor and residency regulations and deported 1.014 million of them to their respective countries since November 2017, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said quoting interior ministry officials. The interior ministry launched a nationwide crackdown against illegal residents on Nov. 15, 2017, with the participation of 19 government departments including the Directorate General of Passports (Jawazat) and the Ministry of Labor and Social Development. The campaign officials said as many as 4,068,322 expatriates were arrested for violating the residency, labor and border security regulations. They said 1,014,220 of the detained residents were deported to their respective home countries. A total of 3,179,181 expatriates were arrested for violating residency regulations, 625,663 for violating the labor law and 263,478 for breaching border security. The officials said a total of 70,478 people were apprehended while attempting to sneak into the Kingdom through its southern borders. About 44 percent of the infiltrators were Yemenis, 53 percent Ethiopians and the rest (3 percent) constituted people of various nationalities. The officials also said 2,854 people were caught while attempting to leave the Kingdom illegally. According to the campaign officials, as many as 4,630 people, including 1,644 Saudi nationals, were arrested for providing transportation and accommodation to illegal residents. They said 1,618 Saudis detained for sheltering illegals were questioned, punished and released while 26 others were still being investigated. A total of 16,281 expatriates are undergoing punitive measures at present, in line with the regulations. Of these, 14,035 are men and 2,246 are women. A total of 516,564 expatriates were referred to their concerned embassies and consulates to issue them travel documents while 682,433 were waiting for flight bookings to leave the country. The security clampdown to flush out all illegal expatriates from Saudi Arabia seems to have achieved its objectives with the coordinated efforts of various security agencies. The interior ministry launched the Nation Without Illegal Expats campaign on March 29, 2017, with an initial 90-day grace period for all visa overstayers and violators of residency and labor laws to leave the country without incurring any penalties. Due to the huge rush of undocumented workers wishing to leave the Kingdom taking advantage of the general amnesty, which allowed them to return to the Kingdom later on legal work visas, the grace period was extended a number of times until it finally ended on Nov. 15, 2017. The Passport Department and several foreign diplomatic missions opened facilitation centers in various parts of the country to help expatriates wishing to leave the Kingdom on their own to complete the procedures. Saudi authorities estimated that more than 750,000 people belonging to 140 nationalities had benefited from the amnesty when the grace period finally ended. But hundreds of thousands of others remained in the Kingdom, either determined to stay back heedless of the consequences or unable to avail themselves of the amnesty offer.
