RIYADH — The Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of 20,718 illegal residents during inspection raids carried out by its officials in all regions of Saudi Arabia during last week. The arrests were made during the joint field security campaigns carried out by security forces and the concerned government agencies during the period between Aug. 22 and Aug. 28. The arrested persons included 13,248 violators of the Residency Law, 4688 violators of the Border Security Law, and 2,782 violators of the Labor Law. The total number of people who were arrested while trying to cross the border into the Kingdom stood at 744, of whom 37 percent were Yemeni nationals, 62 percent Ethiopian nationals, and one percent belonged to other nationalities while 69 people were arrested while attempting to leave the Kingdom illegally. Sixteen people, who were involved in transporting, sheltering, and employing violators, were also arrested. A total of 14,634 expatriates, including 13,532 men and 1,102 women, are currently undergoing various phases of legal procedures as part of punitive measures against them. A total of 5,361violators were referred to their diplomatic missions to obtain travel documents while 1982 violators were referred to complete their travel reservations whereas 12,410 violators were deported. The Ministry of Interior has warned that any person who facilitates the illegal entry of individuals into the Kingdom, transports them on its territory, provides them with shelter or any other assistance or service may be penalized with up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to SR1 million, and that the vehicles used for transportation or houses used for giving shelter will be confiscated. The ministry urged the public to report any cases of violation by calling the number 911 in the regions of Makkah, Riyadh, and the Eastern Province and the numbers 999 and 996 in the rest of the Kingdom's regions.
