He asked authorities concerned to intervene immediately and take whatever action is necessary to end the suffering of these foreigners, preserve their dignity and provide them with health care in their congested barracks.

My brother Khaled was hurt, as was many others, over the death of five Ethiopians at the Deportation Department in Jazan. They reportedly died from suffocation due to overcrowding in their rooms.

Brother Khaled recalled a previous visit he had paid to the deportation center in Jeddah, where he saw thousands of deportees cramped in small rooms without ventilation or other health facilities.

Commenting on recent news reports that the Jeddah Passports Department had arrested 1,500 illegal foreigners during the month of Ramadan, he questioned how they would be accommodated especially as prisons and detention centers were full.

He further questioned whether their humanity was being respected or were they being treated like animals who do not feel or understand. All Saudi citizens, particularly officials, were saddened by what happened to the deportees.

The living conditions of these detainees raise the question asked by brother Khaled — how could anything like this happen in the Kingdom of humanity, which is applying Shariah and is committed to the teachings of Islam that urge us to be good to one another?

I hope the authorities concerned will rectify the situation in a way that preserves the dignity of foreign deportees and ensure the good reputation of the Kingdom, which is really praiseworthy.

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