Nearly 200,000 illegals arrested across Saudi Arabia in two months

RIYADH — Security authorities have arrested more than 200,000 illegal residents in the past two months in a nationwide crackdown.

The Nation Free of Violators campaign, was launched Kingdomwide by the Ministry of Interior on Nov. 15, 2017. The campaign has succeeded in arresting a total of more than 2.9 million violators of the residency and labor regulations since then.

Campaign officials said 703,995 of the detained violators were deported to their respective home countries while 380,767 others were referred to their respective diplomatic missions to obtain travel permits prior to their deportation. About 475,000 of the detainees are finalizing their deportation procedures including flight bookings.

The officials said 11,284 people, including 9,529 males and 1,755 females, were currently being held at various deportation centers in the country.

As many as 47,437 foreigners were caught trying to sneak into the Kingdom through its southern border. About 50 percent of the infiltrators were Yemeni nationals and 47 percent Ethiopians.

The officials said 1,980 people were caught while attempting to sneak out of the country illegally.

According to the officials, 3,497 people were charged with providing accommodation and transport to illegal expatriates. They included 1,145 Saudis, of whom 1,110 were punished and released while 35 others are still being investigated.