JEDDAH, 12 June 2007 — Immigration authorities here have rounded up approximately 15,000 illegal residents who have been camping out beneath city bridges waiting to be deported. Authorities did not say over what period of time these raids have taken place, or if they occurred after an amnesty that ended a couple of weeks ago.
Col. Muhammad Hassan Al-Asmari, the local head of the Passport Department, said buses were sent to local encampments where thousands of South and Southeast Asian illegal residents have been waiting to take advantage of the no-penalty amnesty.
It wasn’t clear if these people will face the penalty for being detained after the end of the amnesty, even if they have been waiting much before the end of the amnesty to be processed.
Passport officials investigate every individual case before facilitating deportation to ensure that the deportees have not committed any other crimes (besides living illegally in the Kingdom).
