TPW Desk:  More than 21,000 expatriates have been arrested in Saudi Arabia in one week for violating housing, labor and border protection laws. The country’s law and order forces arrested the expatriates from March 28 to April 3. This information was informed in a statement of the Ministry of Interior of Saudi Arabia.

The arrests were made as part of an ongoing crackdown on illegal expatriates across Saudi Arabia, the statement said. The Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the state-owned news agency of Saudi Arabia, said that 21,505 expatriates were arrested in raids across the country in a week until April 3. These expatriates are accused of violating Saudi Arabia’s housing, labor and border protection laws.

It said that 14 thousand 323 people were arrested for violating the Saudi Housing Law, 4 thousand 778 people under the Border Protection Law and 2 thousand 404 people under the Labor Law. 1,295 of them were arrested while trying to enter Saudi Arabia illegally. Among the arrested expatriates, 37 percent are Yemenis, 61 percent are Ethiopians and 2 percent are nationals of other countries.

Besides, another 61 expatriates were arrested while trying to leave Saudi Arabia illegally. At the same time, 9 people living in Saudi Arabia were also arrested for transporting and harboring violators of housing and labor regulations.

Legal proceedings against 61,301 people are currently underway in Saudi Arabia for violating residency, labor and border laws. Among them there are 57 thousand 13 men and 4 thousand 2888 women.

Of the detained expatriates, 54,169 have been sent to their respective diplomatic missions to collect necessary travel documents before being sent back home. In addition to this, a final order has been given to send another 1,666 people back from Saudi Arabia.

And 7 thousand 423 of those arrested have already been repatriated from Saudi Arabia to their respective countries. Here this is punishable up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to 1 million Saudi riyals for attempting to assist a person to enter the country illegally. The Saudi Ministry of Interior has repeatedly warned about this.

Saudi Arabia is a country of about 30.48 million people. Millions of migrant workers from different countries of the world are working in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s local media regularly report on the country’s ongoing crackdown on lawbreakers and the detention of illegal immigrants.