JEDDAH: About 1,000 Indonesian overstayers who became unruly in front of their consulate here a week ago and sent to detention centers are being processed for deportation, a top level official at the consulate said on Monday.
The illegal residents — mostly housemaids, drivers and common laborers — were demanding immediate deportation. “The group that became unruly was by far the biggest in recent years,” Didi Wahyudi, head of consular affairs at the Indonesian Consulate, told Arab News. More than half of the protesting Indonesians were rounded up for staging the protest at the consulate. Those detained included 360 women.
“The protest was meant to draw the attention of the consulate to our plight and seek immediate deportation,” Abdullah Omer, a middle-aged Indonesian, said. He said as soon word spread about the protesters and their detention, some more overstayers gathered around the consulate pleading for their detention and deportation.
Asked how many of Indonesian overstayers were in the Kingdom, Wahyudi said: “It’s difficult to give their total number. We deal with them as and when they come to us or we come to know about them. We do periodically visit various detention centers in Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah and Yanbu and try to help them in whatever way possible.”
Second Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Prince Naif told the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Sunday that the Kingdom had 11,000 illegal aliens currently detained in Saudi jails.
“Very few of our nationals voluntarily register themselves at the mission,” said Wahyudi.
