JEDDAH, 1 November 2006 — Security forces rounded up 1,410 people yesterday in an early morning operation in Jeddah which targeted three highly-populated districts.
People of all nationalities were among those arrested in the city’s Al-Safa, Al-Sharafia and Al-Balad districts.
The raid was led by Jeddah police and involved teams from 11 government departments including the traffic and passports, the Red Crescent and the Saudi Electricity Company. Landlords of the houses where the overstayers were living have been called in for questioning and could face fines of up to SR100,000 and imprisonment as well.
Six of the overstayers have been charged with felonies including the sale of alcohol, manufacturing imitation jewelry that was sold as gold and selling illegal prepaid mobile phone cards.
The Kingdom has been waging a campaign against overstayers over the past two years. Hundreds of thousands have been deported as a result.
Meanwhile, Saudi border guards have intercepted around 100 illegal immigrants who came from Sudan and Nigeria in search of work in the Kingdom, Al-Watan daily reported yesterday.
The would-be immigrants were caught as they arrived on the Saudi coast on a small boat on Monday, the paper said, adding that another boat carrying around 100 Ethiopians and Eritreans had been intercepted about three weeks ago.
