It looks like an ordinary urban bus station with all the usual luggage, hugs and farewells on display, but in reality the Kandara District overpass in Jeddah has become an unofficial international transport terminal, creating in its wake a breeding ground for all vices. Illegal immigrants and overstayers gather here throughout the year, with numbers increasing around the time of the Haj pilgrimage, to avail themselves of the free deportation service provided by the Passports Department, and many turn to illegal work when they are not taken away as quickly as they had hoped. Cheap, illegal labor is easy to find, with maids, drivers and laborers all available to the unscrupulous employer. Akbar, a Sri Lankan, has been waiting under the bridge for more than 40 days, living off the daily charity of Saudi individuals who bring food. “This is the wrong time to find a maid,” Akbar told Saudi Gazette reporters posing as potential housemaid employers. “People usually only come at this time to pick up ladies for ‘pleasure'.” “Pleasure” was the euphemism, and Akbar knew where to find it. “You have to arrange it with the ‘Manageress'. She is the self-appointed boss and she controls them. But be careful when you talk to her because if she is suspicious, she and her people will throw stones at you.” Saudi Gazette reporters were not deterred. But after making further inquiries Akbar strongly recommended that they come in the daytime when everybody was “off-duty.” “The Manageress is asleep, and if you annoy her you'll be in real trouble. These people don't mess about. You could get beaten up,” he said. “Come during the day, there'll be a lot more people around then.” The next day, Akbar's words proved true. There were possibly around one thousand people – at least half of them women of all ages – milling around under the pass, some offering a variety of services, but most hoping that today would be the day when their bus from the Passports Department might come. Most of them come to the Kingdom on pilgrimage visas and then stay on to find work. When they have saved enough money they come to the Kandara overpass for a free and swift trip back home. The Passport Department sends buses everyday and officers line people up for boarding. Sometimes the atmosphere can become heated as people perceive a degree of discrimination between who gets to go on and who doesn't. They claim that some nationalities are picked ahead of others. An official from the Passport Department conducting affairs said that wasn't the case. “We just start by taking the people who are most problematic,” he said. “We have to take as many women as we can, so men have to wait. We don't ignore certain nationalities.” Commenting on the role of embassies in the deportation process, he said that Saudi Arabia was the only country in the region that didn't pressure embassies to deport their nationals. In other countries, he said, embassies were responsible for providing food and housing to those awaiting deportation. As bus after bus leaves the site, for many left behind it means another day's wait. For others, another month, or another year. Meantime, they have to think about making some sort of living. And here comes the catch! And women become an easy prey to the pimps who somehow cajole them into the world's oldest profession, thus turning the overpass into a den of vice. – SG __
