The violent incident at Al-Shumaisy deportation center on Sunday has triggered a flurry of official activity to speed up the repatriation process of undocumented Yemeni workers, which will include increasing the number of flights and opening up road transport for them.

Yemen not only shares the largest border with the Kingdom on its southern front but it also has a sizeable number of undocumented workers in the Kingdom. However, following the correction campaign, most of them had left with a few left behind at the deportation centers in the Kingdom awaiting repatriation.

“Yemen Consul General Ali Mohammed Al-Ayashi met with Saudi authorities after the incident. We were informed that buses will be operated to transport the inmates to Yemen as a measure to expedite the process of repatriation,” Yemeni diplomat Ahmed Sayeed said on Wednesday.

The Yemeni diplomat said that approximately 1,400 Yemeni nationals had been deported in the past couple of days. He also praised Saudi authorities for their humanitarian approach and assistance to the illegal expats at the deportation center.

The Yemeni consulate in Jeddah has deputed a team in Al-Shumaisy deportation center exclusively to provide assistance to its nationals at the deportation center. Yemeni consulate sources said that since the start of the crackdown against illegal expats, over 186,000 Yemenis have returned home from the western and southern parts of the Kingdom.