MADINAH, 25 July 2005 — Overstayers here may be getting the message they have overstayed their welcome after Madinah residents teamed up with police to take back their streets and neighborhoods during recent raids that resulted in the arrests of more than 600 illegal aliens.
Many residents of neighborhoods, including Al-Harra Al-Sharqiya and Al-Harra Al-Gharbiya, had complained about overstayers in large numbers, searching for work as laborers and begging in the streets or resorting to criminal activities. When police swooped down on the neighborhoods, they found a willing citizenry ready to lend them a hand in the cleanup.
“Their number increases dramatically after Ramadan and Haj when some decide to stay back and search for work,” Abdullah Obudah, a resident from Al-Harra Al-Gharbiya said of the overstayers. “There aren’t many job opportunities available in Madinah. When they fail to find a job, they tend to use criminal activities to earn money. Some start to practice beggary, and this creates a bad image for the Holy City of Madinah.”
Obudah’s only regret was that the raids didn’t come sooner. “These police raids came late,” he said. “But it is good, and I’m seeing good results from them. I hope it continues until the city is safe.”
For others, it was a chance to bring some peace and quiet back to their neighborhoods.
“A number of Asian overstayers rented a house down the road from where I live,” said resident Husam Salem. “It became a gathering place for them, and we would hear their shouting and screaming late at night while they gambled. This is the neighborhood where I grew up... It was no longer our neighborhood after they took control of it. When we complained to police or threatened them, they would either smash your car or harass you. I felt like a stranger in my own home.”
Salem said the problem wasn’t all the doing of foreigners. “That situation was also created by the Saudis who were renting their homes to them, though they knew they were overstayers.”
Salem was one of those residents who had had enough. “It was payback time,” he said. “We assisted police by showing them the houses that contained illegal overstayers. We even helped police by arresting a number of them who were trying to escape.”
Many residents say Madinah has been transformed.
“I have to be honest with you that after police raids, most neighborhoods look very safe and clean,” said Abdul Aziz Al-Raddadi. “Before the police raids, criminals broke into my house three times. Each time, they managed to steal something. The third time, we arrested a 12-year-old boy who was living in the neighborhood with his overstayer father.”
Al-Raddadi said there are limits to hospitality — even in Madinah. “Now we understand that most people come to live in Madinah because it is the city of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), but it is not acceptable to break the country’s residential law.”
For the time being, Madinah is back to normal, but some wonder if it will stay that way. “I hope that police will come up with a solution to prevent their staying in Madinah after the end of Ramadan and Haj season,” said Al-Raddadi.
“After the police raid, I saw a huge difference,” Salem said. “It’s like a filthy, rotten dress that has been cleaned.”
