JEDDAH, 20 September 2005 — The secret burials of overstayers are happening in quiet, neighborhood graveyards in the dead of night.
Overstayers are buried without papers or permission to inter from either hospitals or police. Overstayers also take advantage of weak security to bury stolen goods and harmful materials in the graveyards.
Al-Tawfeeq Cemetery in Briman neighborhood east of Jeddah-Makkah expressway is one that has been so affected.
Al-Madinah newspaper recently visited there and observed overstayers fleeing over the back wall of the cemetery as reporters arrived. The three overstayers had shovels in hands ready to dig a grave when they were surprised.
Police were notified, and when officers arrived, one of the gravediggers was arrested; the other two escaped. An investigation of the incident continues.
Col. Dahem Al-Shebani, director of Al-Safa Police, said there are many overstayers in Briman, and they prefer to bury their dead in old cemeteries where security guard is weak, as they do not hold legal documents. The colonel has asked for night patrols of graveyards because that’s the time the illegal burials are conducted.
“The problem is that they get help from foreign residents who have iqamas and give aid to them,” said one resident disgusted by the ongoing problem. “I blame the negligence of cemetery management that allows overstayers to bury people without official permits.”
The resident said more than bodies were interred. “Not only that, they even bury there stuff they have stolen,” he said.
