Some of them were working illegally as construction laborers and hawkers while others were involved in begging.

“The arrested men, who carried Ethiopian, Yemeni and Indian passports, could find jobs in various developmental projects in Makkah. Some of them were found begging in crowded streets. Yemeni overstayers were mostly selling fruit and vegetables in push carts,” said spokesman of Makkah passport police Lt. Col. Muhammad Al-Hussain.

Al-Hussain said his department started raiding suspicious locations for foreigners who stayed behind after their pilgrimage on Friday.

“The raids, which were focused on neighborhoods close to the central zone of the city such as Ajyad, Reea Bakhsh and Kadwah, started at 11 p.m. on Friday and lasted until 10 a.m. the next day,” Al-Hussain said.

He added that the raids would continue throughout the year to ensure that no one remained in the country illegally after performing Haj or Umrah. He also warned citizens and expatriates that sheltering overstaying pilgrims was a punishable crime.