JEDDAH, 20 August 2006 — Police arrested yesterday four Asian expatriates here for forging various civic documents, including residency work permits (iqamas), passports of various countries and driver’s licenses.
Police said that yesterday’s raid on a residency yielded 32 iqamas, 261 residency visa renewal stamps, seals of ghost companies to be used to fake sponsorship of foreign workers, and about 80 faked driver’s licenses.
The arrests come as municipal officials increased their efforts to crack down on forgeries after noticing an increase in such documents in the city.
Maj. Ahmad Shiblan of the anti-forgery division at the Passport Department said: “Field officers at department undertook intensive investigations at the places where foreign workers converge to root out the source of the forged documents.”
Shiblan said authorities staked out the house until all of the suspects were present before carrying out the raid. The suspects allegedly confessed to their crimes and said they were charging SR2,000 for forged iqamas.
Passport Department officials took the opportunity of the arrests to ask the public to help police crack down on forged documents, which they say adversely affects the national economy.
The Arab Labor Organization has issued a warning against the risks involved in the rise in the level of foreign workers in the Gulf employment markets.
There are about 6.2 million foreigners working in the Kingdom. Many migrant workers are from poor Asian and African countries who enter the country legally but overstay their visit visas to work illegally.
