JEDDAH, 17 March 2004 — The Passports Department has recommended posting female inspection teams at all checkpoints in the Kingdom.
A source at the department told Arab News that deployment of female inspectors at checkpoints in Makkah during the Haj season had been very successful, particularly in spotting Umrah overstayers disguised as women.
“The presence of the female inspectors was a deterrent, and the number of overstayers attempting to enter Makkah disguised as women went down significantly,” the source said.
The female inspectors had been on loan from the Kingdom’s international airports.
A proposal to expand the program has been submitted to the Ministry of the Interior for further study. It recommends having female inspectors at all city entry points.
“They can be useful not only with illegal residents but also for security procedures and road safety,” said the source. Currently, there are female inspectors at all international airports and land and sea entry points.
In November 2003, Al-Hayat newspaper reported that the Interior Ministry was examining a study recommending the establishment of a female police force.
The paper quoted informed sources at the ministry as saying the mission of the force “would not constitute field work...the policewomen would handle special security missions.” These include security investigations in addition to the monitoring of activities of women suspected of unspecified “collaboration”.
The paper quoted the source as saying that “policewomen would monitor and report the suspicious activities of women during events organized for women.”
Arab News contacted the Interior Ministry but was unable to obtain confirmation of this, but a source said that there is a need for a female police force for investigating crimes and drug-related incidents where women are involved.
The need for policewomen had increased after the Interior Ministry confirmed that “terrorist organizations were able to recruit women to help in their operations and escape.”
“There is also information that the terrorists are seeking to include women in their network because they are easier to infiltrate security checks,” the sources said.
Al-Hayat said the Interior Ministry realized following the attack on a residential compound in Riyadh that security forces refrained from searching cars that carried families.
During a raid on a suspected terrorist hideout in Madinah in June, police arrested three women including the wife of Ali Abdul Rahman Al-Faqaasi, the alleged mastermind of the May 12 Riyadh bombing. Police also detained four women for allegedly collaborating with a terrorist cell in Makkah.
