These infiltrators who either take shelter on mountaintops or hide in the nearby mountainside caves pose a severe threat to the national security and a big headache for the security forces. Due to their increasing presence, local residents live in fear and anxiety. The illegals are involved in various criminal acts such as drug trafficking, brewing alcohol and hiring women illegally to work as housemaids.
Yahya Saabra, an elderly villager living in Markaz Shaaf Jarima, said that these illegals caused sleepless nights for the villagers. “They are dared even to armed resistance when anybody tries to approach them. We heard sounds of heavy gun fire from an unknown destination last Saturday and that continued from 6 in the morning until the evening,” he said, adding that police rushed to the scene after receiving calls from the local residents.
Abdul Aziz Al-Shawati and Hassan Al-Qahtani said that most of these illegals were African nationals, although they also included a few Yemenis. They are found mainly in villages and mountainous areas in the region, they said. Muhammad Al-Shawati, another citizen, pointed out that large numbers of aliens, armed with weapons, are found moving around the villages in the region. “My brother sustained bullet wounds when one of them fired at him last week,” he said.
Abdullah Al-Shawati said that these infiltrators were found in large numbers in villages such as Tareeq Lazma, Al-Moharraqa, Al-Hadab and Jabal Amkhaba. He called on the authorities to redeploy security forces to patrol Jouf Al-Shawat region. The forces were called into the region six years ago to deal with the increasing number of illegals.
Meanwhile, a citizen from Najran, who preferred to be unidentified, described the situation under which he was forced to hire a housemaid illegally. “I was in dire need of hiring a housemaid and therefore approached recruitment offices. Even though I cannot afford the high cost for recruitment, I waited for several months to get a housemaid. When that attempt failed, I contacted the illegals who arranged me an illegal Ethiopian woman within two weeks,” he said.
Speaking to the newspaper, Muhammad Al-Shayef, acting governor of Ahad Rufaida, said there were more than 600 infiltrators spread over the villages located between Al-Morabba and Angara in the region. “They usually take mountaintops and caves as their habitat, while some of them live in makeshift houses made of stones. We have received several complaints from citizens about frequent incidents of heavy firing from mountains where these armed aliens took shelter,” he said.
Al-Shayef expressed regret over the undesirable tendency on the part of some citizens who cash in on these illegals. “It is unfortunate that these citizens are eager to earn money by transporting foodstuffs and water and sell them to these people,” he said, adding that the infiltrators were brewing alcohol and selling them to young Saudis in addition to their involvement in the sale of drugs.
On his part, Talal bin Mashhour, head of Markaz Shaaf Jarima, stressed the need for beefing up security patrols in the villages and mountainous regions to flush out the infiltrators.
Reacting to reports about the problem, Abdullah Al-Shaathan, security spokesman of Asir police, said that Ahad Rufaida police had been boosted with additional forces to intensify patrolling and raids to catch the illegals. He urged the local residents to lend a helping hand to crack down on them. “The citizens should not hire these aliens for any types of jobs. They should inform the authorities if they find such people in their localities,” he said.
