RIYADH: Saudi authorities arrested 17,463 people in one week for breaching residency, work and border security regulations, according to an official report.
A total of 10,856 people were arrested for violations of residency laws, while 3,934 were held over illegal border crossing attempts and a further 2,673 for labor-related issues, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
The report showed that among the 773 people arrested for trying to enter the Kingdom illegally, 44 percent were Yemeni, 45 percent Ethiopian, and 11 percent were of other nationalities.
A further 54 people were caught trying to cross into neighboring countries, and 11 were held for involvement in transporting and harboring violators.
So far, the authorities transferred 44,651 offenders to their respective diplomatic missions to obtain travel documents, while 1,617 were transferred to complete their travel reservations and 10,197 were deported.
