Saudis raid shops and homes in sweeps on illegals

Saudi authorities have been raiding businesses and housing blocks in a crackdown on illegal foreign workers after a grace period for their departure expired, diplomats said yesterday. Across the desert kingdom, police are also erecting road blocks and checking the documents of foreigners in a bid to catch unlawful expatriate laborers.

But while the amnesty allowing all to leave Saudi Arabia expired on October 16, diplomats said thousands were stuck in the kingdom because they did not receive the necessary travel permits.

A special team of officers was formed which will conduct raids on commercial establishments, industrial outfits and other business locations, reports said.

Police said that they are rounding up illegal aliens across the country, where foreigners mostly from India, southeast Asia, and some Arab states make up one third of the 18 million population. There are 1.4 million Indians alone.

Saudi officials had said the sweep for illegal workers would not include those who obtained required documents but were still waiting for available transport out of the country.

Through the three-month amnesty, Saudi Arabia hoped to flush out more than 100,000 illegal laborers, the same number of illegal aliens that left during a similar operation in 1995.

People sheltering illegal workers could also face jail terms and 100,000 riyal ($26,000) fine.

About 40,000 Indians, 30,000 Sudanese, 10,000 Nigerians and thousands of other nationalities including Arabs, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans and Filipinos, have taken advantage of the amnesty. But many remain stranded in the kingdom, huddling at deportation centers, ports and airports. The number is quite substantial, an Indian diplomat said.

Foreign laborers must secure travel documents from their embassies and Saudi exit permits before they may leave the country, a process diplomats say can take more than two weeks.

While some of the illegal aliens are pilgrims to the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina who stayed longer than their visas allowed, many come in on valid work and residence visas.