The General Directorate of the Passport Department has issued a statement stressing that the department has not dispatched field officers to take part in the raids, explaining that inspections are conducted in coordination with the Ministry of Interior.
The statement also clarified that the correction period did not cover expatriates who infiltrated into the Kingdom illegally.
The department’s memo added that all illegal expatriates who were unable to correct their status will not be allowed to leave the Kingdom without registering their fingerprints and revealing personal identification papers.
Lt. Col. Ahmad Al-Luhaidan, a spokesman for the Passport Department, said security forces arrested a number of violators wanted by Saudi security authorities.
Al-Luhaidan refuted claims that many illegal expatriates were could not leave the Kingdom due to malfunctioning of the fingerprinting system.
Col. Fawaz Al-Maiman, spokesman for Riyadh police, said the inspection campaign would continue indefinitely. He warned citizens against putting themselves in danger by participating in arrests against violators, stressing that they are not qualified and have not been given the jurisdiction to act in that capacity.
He said citizens could cooperate by reporting the locations of violators to authorities.
An official source at the General Directorate of Border Guards indicated that operations were ongoing to arrest trespassers along the Kingdom’s borders.
Inspection campaign open ended
