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

Over 3.24 million foreigners have been arrested in Saudi Arabia 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.

So far, a total of 3,245,652 people have been arrested, including over 2.5 million for residency violations, 500,454 for breaking labour laws and 214,966 for flouting border regulations.

The latest figures indicate that 258,335 people were arrested from April-end.

Read: Close to 3 million foreigners arrested as Saudi clamps down on illegal workers

The report also stated that 54,496 people were apprehended while attempting to illegally enter the kingdom’s borders, mainly including Ethiopians (49 per cent) and Yemenis (48 per cent). The rest constituted people of various nationalities.

Officials also arrested 3,879 people for their involvement in the transfer, accommodation and concealment of those who violated the law. That included 1,323 Saudi nationals, of whom 1,284 have been questioned, punished and released and 39 are still being investigated.

Currently, 12,440 of those arrested are being held in various detention centres in the kingdom, including 10,661 men and 1,779 women.

The report also stated that immediate sanctions have been imposed against 470,569 violators, while 42,913 have transferred to their respective diplomatic missions to obtain travel documents.

While 545,074 are waiting to complete their travel reservations, a total of 81,655 expatriates have been deported to their respective countries since November 2017.