RIYADH, 19 August 2007 — Ten illegal immigrants were arrested by the security authorities in the suburbs of the capital, Riyadh police said in a statement issued to Arab News yesterday.

According to the statement, those arrested were from neighboring Arab countries and they were hiding in a resort in the vicinity of Riyadh.

On a tip-off given to the police, authorities cordoned off the hiding place to apprehend them when the culprits took to their heels in a Land Cruiser. The police successfully nabbed the absconders after immobilizing the vehicle by shooting the vehicle’s tires.

The police said that it also arrested six Saudi nationals who were harboring the illegal residents in the resort.

“Those aiding and abetting undocumented migrants and visa overstayers will face severe punishment according to the laws of the land,” the police said.

The police pointed out that illegal residents who flow into the capital commit most of the crimes in the city. In order to improve the situation, Saudi authorities have been offering amnesty to the illegal residents. A recent two-month amnesty period expired on June 1.

Meanwhile, police said they have managed to clamp down on various illegal activities in several districts, including Al-Batha, Al-Shafa and Al-Suwaidi districts. The areas are known to contain a large number of illegal residents.

Among those arrested was a Pakistani national found to be in possession of 60 grams of heroin and a Saudi in possession of 1.8 grams of heroin. Both suspects have been handed over to the Drug Combating Department. An Egyptian overstayer who had run away from his sponsor was also apprehended.

Recently, the concerned authorities also closed down 15 illegal telephone booths run by Bangladeshis. Three men were arrested and 11 illegal telephone devices were confiscated. Authorities also closed down an illegal factory manufacturing fake toiletries and an unlicensed bakery that was using out-of-date products. Both factories were shut down and the workers were arrested. An operation in the Al-Shafa district led to the arrest of 16 visa overstayers.

According to statistics provided by the Statistics and Research Department in the Public Security Department, Riyadh region has the highest number of reported crimes, followed by the Makkah and the Eastern Province.

Recent reports revealed that at least two million illegal foreigners, including a large number of Pakistani nationals reside in Makkah. Most of them had entered the Kingdom on Umrah and Haj visas and then remained past the date of their departure.

Officials said the illegal immigrants included Africans, Pakistanis, Burmese, Bangladeshis, Afghani and Indonesians. Makkah is also home to a large number of undocumented African migrants (immigrants who snuck into the Kingdom rather than entered legally to later overstay their visas) who have formed their own colonies in mountainous and unapproachable areas of the valley. Statistics suggest that as much as half the population of the Makkah Region consists of illegal residents.

On a directive from Makkah Governor Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, the Social Committee of the Makkah Regional Council had been asked to lay down a mechanism to bring the Haj and Umrah overstayers to book.

The social committee claimed that it had full background information on those who had overstayed. This would enable it to nab the violators of host country regulations.

While the number of undocumented migrants can be difficult to estimate, theoretically Saudi Arabia could establish a very accurate estimate of visa overstayers in the Kingdom because they have records of their entries.