The campaign against illegal aliens and visa overstayers, which was launched on Nov. 15, has so far netted as many as 534,764 violators of the systems of residency, work and the border security, according to local press reports on Monday.
Expatriates consisted of 359,748 violators of the system of residency, 124,161 violators of the labor laws and 50,855 infiltrators via the Kingdom’s southern borders. campaign said as many as 7,670 people who recently tried to infiltrate into the Kingdom were caught and sent back to where they came from. They consisted of 70 percent Yemenis, 28 percent Ethiopians and two percent people of various nationalities.
It said as many as 1,067 people were caught for providing illegal expatriates with accommodation and transport. They included 169 Saudis of whom 154 were punished and released and 15 were still under investigations.
According to the campaign, in which 19 ministries and government departments are participating, 91,593 violators were deported to their respective homes, 60,707 referred to their embassies or consulates to issue them with travel documents and 66,268 were completing their fight bookings.
It said as many as 12,449 expatriates are currently being held in detention centers consisting of 10,371 men and 2,078 women. The campaign said some 480 illegals were caught while trying to sneak out of the Kingdom.
SOURCE : SAUDIGAZETTE
