Saudi Arabia: Over 6m illegals arrested in 5 years
2.1m violators of the kingdom’s residency, labour, border rules deported
Cairo: Around 6.4 million illegal foreigners have been arrested in Saudi Arabia in the past five years as the kingdom is cracking down on violators of its residency, labour and border laws, a Saudi newspaper has reported.
The arrests included 4.7 million violators of the Saudi residency law, 823,715 violators of the border security system and 895,448 others who breached the labour regulations, Okaz added, citing official statistics.
A nationwide government campaign, dubbed “A Nation Without A Violator” last year arrested a total of 781,186 illegals, it said.
Overall, 2.1 million illegals have been deported from Saudi Arabia since the campaign started five years ago.
The number of deportees reached 560,104 last year, according to the report.
Saudi authorities have repeatedly warned that those who facilitate the entry of infiltrators into the kingdom or provide them with transportation, shelter or any sort of assistance face penalties of a maximum of 15 years in prison, and a fine of up to SR1 million, as well as confiscation of the transport and the accommodation means, in addition to naming to shame them.