Over 3.7 million arrested in Saudi as crackdown on illegal workers, residents continues

Saudi authorities have arrested close to 3.8 million foreigners as the kingdom continues its ongoing crackdown on labour and residency violators, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The kingdom has been detaining people for residential, labour and border security regulations since November 2017.

A total of 3,790,173 people have been arrested, including over 2.95 million for residency violations, 583,602 for breaking labour laws and 247,220 for flouting border regulations.

The latest figures indicate that 544, 521 people have been arrested since the beginning of June.

Read: Saudi arrests over 3.2 million in continuing crackdown on illegal workers, residents

The report also stated that 940,100 expatriates have been deported to their respective countries since November 2017.

Officials said that 64,157 people were apprehended while attempting to illegally enter the kingdom’s borders – including Ethiopians (51 per cent), Yemenis (46 per cent) and people of various nationalities.

Meanwhile 2,759 people were caught while attempting to leave the kingdom illegally.

A total of 4,498 people were arrested for their involvement in the transfer, accommodation and concealment of those who violated the law. That included 1,569 Saudi nationals, of whom 1,530 have been questioned, punished and released and 32 are still being investigated.

A total of 482,600 expatriates have been referred to their respective diplomatic missions to obtain travel documents while 630,054 were waiting for flight bookings to leave the country.

The clampdown on illegal expatriates began following an amnesty in Saudi which ran from late March 2017 until November 2017. An estimated 750,000 people belonging to 140 nationalities benefited from the initiative, according to reports.