JEDDAH: A number of Egyptians awaiting deportation at the Passports Department in Jeddah say they are being held for an unnecessarily long time and accuse their consulate of ignoring their plight. “I have been at the deportation center for almost a month without any sign that it's going to come to an end soon,” one Egyptian told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. “The Egyptian embassy should do something to sort out my travel papers as soon as possible.” Hussein Al-Sharif from the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) in Makkah said his organization visited the deportation center twice, resulting in observations concerning services and overcrowding. “The slow process of deportation procedures was also noted,” he said, adding that some “positive advances” had since been made. “A lot of inmates on the deportation blocks complain, however, that their consulates are doing nothing for them”. Ali-Al-'Ashiri, the Egyptian Ambassador to the Kingdom, said the Consul General in Jeddah monitored the situation “every day through daily visits and the provision of services to them.” “Travel documents are provided if they have lost their passports, and passports are extended if they have expired. Tickets are also given if they do not have enough money,” he said. “In the last two months the embassy has completed procedures for 3,183 Egyptians to leave the Kingdom. There is continuous cooperation between the consulate and the Passports Department in that regard. The Consul General in Jeddah managed last year to complete procedures for the return home of 19,000 Egyptians.” Muhammad Hussein of the Makkah Passports Department said that its task was to “deport persons without identity papers and those without passports or residency permits”.
