JEDDAH, 11 October 2004 — The Passports Department has intensified their campaign against illegal street vendors. The latest target of their efforts to rid the Kingdom of illegal immigrants are the fruit vendors.
In Al-Rawdah district yesterday afternoon, undercover and uniformed officers arrested six fruit vendors, including two just west of Al-Murraba Bridge. At approximately 4 o’clock, two undercover officers in a sports car approached two fruit vendors and pretended to be interested in buying fruit. While the vendors were engaged, a Passports Department jeep rolled up. Upon seeing the immigration vehicle approaching, the two vendors tossed their fruit-cutting knives aside and attempted to escape on foot.
The plainclothes immigration officials did not wish to speak with Arab News. However, the uniformed immigration official said: “The six people we have caught in the last few hours will be deported to Yemen within a couple of days. They have been arrested because they are illegal immigrants, not because they are selling fruit. They are welcome to sell all the fruit they want, they just have to have a legal presence here in Saudi Arabia.”
Asked if this latest crackdown has anything to do with the approach of Ramadan, the immigration official said, “Not really. Ramadan brings a lot of beggars out. We are only interested in them if they are here illegally. There is the anti-beggary department to handle the beggars. Of course, if someone is illegal and begging, then both departments work together, which is often the case.”
In this case, the Yemeni fruit vendors, were making an honest living, preferring to stand in the sun all day and sell fruit, over begging or crime. Due to the competitive prices that the vendors ask for when they sell the fruit, many residents were disturbed to see the vendors being arrested.
One man told Arab News, “I have become accustomed to these guys. It has been the same two people here in the same place almost daily for the past few months. I had a good relationship with them. Not to worry, someone will come take their spot over the next few days.”
One driver was somewhat pleased at the spectacle that unfolded in front of a small crowd yesterday afternoon. He told Arab News, “I am glad they caught them. All they do is block the traffic with their carts when people pull up to buy fruit. This particular stand was in front of that girls’ school there. The traffic jams created by the two, especially in the afternoon is unbearable. We’ll get a break from them for a few days, but other will take their place.”
