MAKKAH, 25 November 2007 — An Egyptian expatriate, who was arrested in Makkah last week for harboring 52 Egyptian overstayers for Haj, was handed a SR520,000 fine and a six-month prison sentence. He will be deported once he completes the jail sentence.
The Egyptian man, known only as Musad, had housed the overstayers, who had come to the Kingdom on Umrah visas and were hoping to remain in the country to perform Haj, charging them SR2,800 each. The Passport Department in Makkah fined Musad SR10,000 for each overstayer he harbored.
Musad told passport officials that he was unable to pay the fine. The offficials said he would then stay in jail longer.
Khalid Baghazr, a professor of Islamic studies, said, “Those pilgrims came here only to perform Umrah. They took a commitment upon themselves before God to perform Umrah and then return home. It was illegal for them to have broken this commitment.”
He added, “The authorities should be obeyed. Laws are in place to maintain the safety and security of the Kingdom and the Haj. People who violate the Kingdom’s laws are violating God.”
Last week Arab News reported how a team of Passport Department officials led by Maj. Faisal Al-Sualim raided an address in the Al-Sharai district of the holy city.
One old man from Upper Egypt, who had overstayed, told Arab News, “We reported Musad to the police. He just left us in this old house, having taken our money. ... We grassed him up. He deserves what he gets. He told us not to say anything to the cops if we get picked up.”
Najeeb, another pilgrim, said: “Two days after bringing us here, Musad disappeared. We couldn’t contact him. He told us to keep the lights off. It was horrible.”
He added that they were informed that a person would visit them at night and would bring them food and other items that they might need.
“We trusted Musad as he claimed that he knew top officials who could make things easy for him,” said another pilgrim.
On his arrest, Musad told Arab News, “I live in the Kingdom and I am married to an expatriate, whose brothers are Saudi. I rented out a building for SR24,000, which has been used by two expatriates to house overstayers,” he said. “What can I do? It’s not my fault that they’ve used the building for something illegal,” he added.
However, the pilgrims themselves incriminated Musad. Passport Department officials contacted the owner of the building and spoke to local residents, who confirmed that Musad had rented the building and there were no third parties involved.
Musad was also unable to provide documentation showing that he had rented out the building.
