Over 4.1 million arrested as Saudi continues crackdown on illegal workers, residents

Over 4.1 million foreigners have been arrested in Saudi Arabia as the kingdom continues its 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 4,106,219 people have been arrested, including over 3.2 million for residency violations, 631,628 for breaking labour laws and 265,523 for flouting border regulations.

The latest figures indicate that 316,046 people have been arrested since the end of September.

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

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

Officials said that 71,586 people were apprehended while attempting to illegally enter the kingdom’s borders – including Ethiopians (53 per cent), Yemenis (44 per cent) and people of various nationalities.

A total of 4,643 people were arrested for their involvement in the transfer, accommodation and concealment of those who violated the law. That included 1,658 Saudi nationals, of whom 1,628 have been questioned, punished and released and 30 are still being investigated.

Authorities imposed immediate penalties on 567,824 violators, with 521,391 referred to their diplomatic missions to obtain travel documents. Meanwhile, 688,984 violators have been referred to complete their travel reservations.

The kingdom has deported 1,025,699 violators.

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.