TAIF: The Taif Governorate Passports Department Deportation Center is dilapidated, wards are crowded with deportees, toilets are dirty and air-conditioning is inadequate, according to the National Society for Human Rights. A delegation from the NSHR in Makkah region, including Dr. Hussein Al-Shareef, supervisor general of the NSHR branch, related their concerns after they toured the complex Wednesday and met with detainees. The visit, which lasted for several hours, was conducted to check conditions in the facilities and listen to detainees' complaints, said Dr. Al-Shareef, who noted that the building does not suit the Passports Department and its workers. The delegation, which included NSHR members in Taif – Adel Bin Turki Al-Thubaiti and Naif Al-Thaqafi – and Dr. Nasser Al-Harthi, toured the Passports Department building, detention areas and public facilities. Dr. Al-Shareef said some issues are not related to the infrastructure. Travel procedures for some deportees are delayed because of problems with travel documents, but there is ongoing coordination with the relevant embassies and consulates to solve the problem, he said.Some sponsors delay visiting the Passports Department and completing procedures for their employees, which slows their departures, he added. Dr. Al-Shareef stressed that the delegation noticed that detainees are treated humanely and observed many other positive aspects in the Deportation Administration. “There were no complaints about maltreatment,” he said. “In addition, the living conditions in the deportation building are good.” The delegation also visited the Traffic Department detention facility, said Dr. Al-Shareef, and did not notice any shortcomings except for a lack of proper furnishings in the detention room.
