JEDDAH, 14 July 2007 — Passport authorities in Jeddah’s Al-Ruwais District raided 75 residences that were sheltering 250 illegal residents, mostly Bangladeshis and Yemenis.
Police say the illegal residents — most of whom are suspected to be people who overstayed their pilgrimage visas or runaway workers — were renting one-room habitations and many of them had forged documents.
Authorities reportedly wanted a few of the suspects for various crimes.
Knowingly harboring people who cannot prove their residency is a crime in Saudi Arabia, but most of the seized illegal residents were in possession of fake residency permits.
They allegedly confessed to buying them from the black market for SR1,000 to SR2,500. The authorities are keeping the fake documents to crack down on mobs that deal with selling fake identification documents, the official said. He said that the raid also resulted in capturing a group of Bangladeshi illegal workers who were producing counterfeit trademark tags. The authorities said they found piles of fake trade tags and counterfeit brands of clothing that were sold at original prices.
