Abu Dhabi: Over 5.6 million violators of residency and labour laws as well as border security system were arrested in Saudi Arabia since November 2017, of whom 1,553,667 were deported to their home countries, a report released by the Interior Ministry on Saturday said.
About 19 ministries and government departments, including the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) and the General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat), are part of the campaign to get rid of illegal foreigners throughout the Kingdom.
The report said 5,615,884 violators were apprehended in all regions across the Kingdom.
Of these, 4,304,206 expatriates had violated residency laws and 802,125 were in violation of labour laws. Violators of the border security system were 509,553.
The campaign said some 116,908 people were apprehended while attempting to infiltrate into the Kingdom through its southern borders; 54 per cent were Ethiopians, 43 per cent Yemenis and the remaining 3 per cent were from various other nationalities.
It said some 9,508 were caught while attempting to leave the Kingdom illegally.
The campaign said 8,222 people, including 2,766 Saudis, were accused of providing accommodation and transport to a number of illegal expatriates. Some 2,761 Saudis were interrogated, punished and released, while 5 are still being probed.
The report said 53,916 expatriates, consisting of 49,954 men and 3,962 women are remanded to custody. Summary penalties were handed out to 714,208 violators.
The campaign said 901,700 violators were referred to their embassies and consulates to issue them travel documents, while 1,047,340 were completing their bookings for outbound flights. Meanwhile, some 1,553,667 violators were deported.
