JEDDAH, 8 January 2004 — Groups of casual laborers are greatly in evidence on the streets of some areas of Jeddah. Desperate for work and almost surely illegal immigrants or overstayers on an Umrah visa, the men are available for hire at fiercely competitive rates for any job that yields a few riyals.

In early December, a truck plowed into a group of the laborers in a busy street and cast an unwelcome spotlight on the country’s illegal immigrant industry. Six people were killed and six injured — all of them illegal immigrants — when an Ethiopian driver, himself illegal, drove into them as he swerved to avoid a jaywalker.

Despite regular and high-profile announcements by the Passports Department that there will be a drive to reduce numbers of illegal immigrants who end up on street corners looking for work, there has been no visible effect.

Police say the laborers often exchange the poverty and hunger in their own countries for a hand-to-mouth existence here. They enter the country on a Umrah/Haj visa and simply stay after it expires.

“I came to Saudi Arabia a year ago during Haj, and I have been trying to make a living ever since,” an Indian carpenter said.

Police maintain that they are intensifying efforts to catch them, and regular sweeps by the Passports Department net large numbers of these illegals who are then deported.

One well-known site, however, observed for over two hours during the busy morning period, saw no visits from any official vehicle — police, Passports Department or immigration. Moreover, Arab News earlier reported on a site near Bab Makkah in downtown Jeddah where illegal immigrants gather, hoping for the Passports Department to arrest and deport them.

The risk of a repeat tragedy is high as whenever a car pulls to the side of the road near groups of laborers, it is immediately and aggressively surrounded by men pulling on the doors, even trying to get in through the windows. Large groups of them sit or chat on the median and rush across busy roads to any car that appears to be a potential source of employment.

The immigrants clearly serve a need, as the gathering places are well known and large groups congregate there from early in the morning. Occasionally a car will stop to negotiate and a few of the men will get work.

“These guys are a good source of cheap labor, if you need a job done just for the day,” said Ahmad Ali, a resident of Al-Rawdah district. “Sure, the Passports Department should cut down the numbers, I suppose, but then who would do the work?”