Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Around 18,000 illegal residents have been arrested within a week during inspection raids in all regions across the Kingdom. They included 10,975 violators of the Residency Law, 4011 violators of the Border Security Law, and 3013 violators of the Labor Law.

The arrests were made during the joint field security campaigns carried out by security forces and the concerned government agencies during the period from Jan. 11 to Jan. 17, 2024.

The total number of people who were arrested while trying to cross the border into the Kingdom reached 688, of whom 38 percent were Yemeni nationals, 60 percent Ethiopian nationals, and two percent belonged to other nationalities. About 200 people were arrested while attempting to cross the border outside the Kingdom in an illegal way. Fourteen people, who were involved in transporting, harboring, and employing violators of residency, work, and border security regulations and those who gave them shelter were also arrested.

The total number of people who are currently under various phases of legal procedures for violations reached 54,752 expatriates, including 49,465 men and 5,287 women. Also, 48,325 violators were referred to their diplomatic missions to obtain travel documents while 1,132 violators were referred to complete their travel reservations, in addition to deportation of 10,649 violators. The Ministry of Interior urged people to report any cases of violation by calling the number 911 in the regions of Makkah, Riyadh, and the Eastern Province and the numbers 999 and 996 in the rest of the Kingdom’s regions.