RIYADH, 4 August — Saudi police have arrested more than 10,000 illegal immigrants in Makkah during the past three months, Okaz newspaper reported yesterday.
The arrests came during a crackdown on foreigners violating residence and labor laws, and those who overstayed pilgrimage visas, Major Salman Al-Muhaya of the Passports Department told the paper.
Such crackdowns are regularly carried out and thousands are arrested, mainly Arabs and Asians who arrive in the Kingdom on pilgrimage but then stay on illegally. Visa violators are deported while landlords renting accommodation or employers hiring them illegally face prison terms and fines.
The Kingdom, home to around seven million foreigners, deports more than 700,000 illegal immigrants every year, according to the Interior Ministry.
The government has hiked fees on recruitment and offered incentives for Saudi nationals to replace foreign labor in a bid to reduce the number of immigrants.
