JEDDAH, 2 July 2005 — Fishermen who suffered substantial losses as a result of a recent police raid on the fish market along the Corniche are to press a lawsuit at the Court of Grievance to win their rights.

Abdullah Shamaa, the head of fishermen, told Arab News that the way the raid was carried out in the market was improper, adding that it should have been done in coordination with market officials.

“They took away all expatriate workers from the market, without differentiating whether they worked there legally or illegally. They even arrested some of the fishermen while they were on their way to sea,” Shamaa said.

He pointed out that the arrested individuals included an expatriate driver who had come to the market to purchase fish for his Saudi family. “This means they arrested everybody without asking where they worked or what they did,” he explained.

Muhammad Shamaa, another leader of the fishermen, said they were making preparations to take legal action this week. “We’ll appoint a lawyer to pursue our case. We’ll also make petitions to the Makkah governorate as well as to Crown Prince Abdullah,” he told Arab News.

Muhammad said fishermen had suffered losses worth millions of riyals as a result of the raid. “Authorities have deported 150 foreign workers and this resulted in the closing down of 22 fish stalls,” he added.

Ibrahim Al-Jehdali, a trader in the market, said most of the expatriates detained during the raid were holding legal resident permits (Iqamas). “We’ll take legal action against all parties which took part in the raid,” he added.

“Authorities say they carried out the raid to implement Saudization regulations, but such regulations do not apply on the market as we don’t have trained Saudi salesmen,” Jehdali said.

He expressed his fears that the continued deterioration of the market would force them to leave it once and for all.

Security forces arrested 150 expatriates of several nationalities at the market last week. The arrests were part of a series of raids targeting illegal residents and their activities as well as those violating Saudization rules. The raids were carried out in response to requests from Saudi fishermen and traders who seek to end the monopoly of some expatriates who sell frozen fish at reduced prices.