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JEDDAH: The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) in Makkah province has requested the Passport Department for permission to visit its deportation center following a number of complaints from foreigners who say they have been detained there for long periods and not deported.

“A number of detainees have written to the NSHR complaining that they have been kept at the center for lengthy periods without being sent back to their respective countries,” said Muhammad Kilinton, a member of the Kingdoms nongovernmental human rights watchdog.

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JEDDAH: Immigration authorities in Jazan said on Wednesday that 2,454 Yemeni infiltrators, illegal residents and beggars were caught in the past one month.

“Infiltration of Yemenis into Saudi Arabia from the southern border is still continuing despite the heavy presence of border guards,” said a written statement from the local Passport Department, pointing out that border officials have increased their vigilance since the conflict with Yemeni rebels earlier this year.

“Border guards have cut new passages in (mountainous) areas that were not accessible in the past in order to be able to patrol the area and prevent infiltration and smuggling,” said the statement.

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JEDDAH – Saudi Arabia has introduced an eGate system at two of its airports to improve passenger throughput.

The systems – at King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam – use passengers biometric images. Using the new eGate system, immigration officials will ask passengers to punch their cards at the eGate and place their index fingers in an allocated space on the gate to get a biometric print.

The countrys Passport Department has indicated that the eGate facility could be extended to other airports in the Kingdom soon.

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MAKKAH – Meshal Al-Wabel, a 30-year-old resident of Riyadh was shocked when he was told at the Passport Department that he needed to pay fines for committing four traffic violations. He was trying to have a passport issued at the time.

His shock was not because of the system but because he is blind and has never owned a car. He said the Passport Department staff asked him to pay SR2,500. “Another strange thing is that the violation was issued by the Makkah Traffic Police even though Ive never been there at any time.”

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JEDDAH – Passport Department raids on sites housing illegal immigrants in Al-Faisaliya District here early Thursday morning led to the arrest of 115 persons of Yemeni, Ethiopian and Filipino nationalities. The raiding parties acting on information from the public entered an apartment block shortly after midnight Wednesday and at the first residence detained a group of Yemenis. In an apartment opposite a number of Ethiopians were arrested. The operations, which continued past dawn, also uncovered flats housing runaway housemaids working for hourly rates and in contravention of their work permits. Some of whom later confessed to theft. Also arrested were beggars and ambulant street sellers. – Okaz/SG

JEDDAH: A total of 110 illegal foreign workers, including 60 women, have been arrested following a major crackdown by the Passport Department on Friday. The arrested include Yemenis, Indonesians, Filipinos and Ethiopians.

The seven-hour search, carried out under the leadership of Capt. Fahd Al-Bariqi, took place at midnight and covered nine locations in the Faisaliya district.

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JEDDAH: The Jeddah municipality has again been out on the streets trying to stamp out unlicensed fruit and vegetable traders with random checks and the confiscation of their goods but it does not appear to be working.

Despite the risk of losing their trolleys and produce, the vendors — mainly Yemenis and Bangladeshis — are not intimidated. Once the municipality inspectors leave they are back selling their goods.

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MAKKAH: A Sudanese medical doctor and his family on Saturday began a sit-in in front of the office of the Makkah branch of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) protesting the injustice done to him both by his Saudi sponsor, a medical company and the Labor Office in Taif. He vowed to continue the sit-in until he is repatriated home.

I want only to go home either through official deportation by the Passport Department or on a final exit visa by my sponsor. As for my financial rights, I have deputized the Sudanese Embassy to take care of that, Dr. Yahya Mokhtar told Arab News.

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JEDDAH: Police have arrested two youths in connection with an armed robbery and the rape of a Sri Lankan woman.

Jeddah police spokesman Col. Misfir Al-Juaid said the arrests were made after two men, a Saudi and a Jordanian, asked a Saudi taxi driver to take them to a secluded spot in southern Obhur before threatening him with a gun, tying him to a concrete barrier and taking his car, money and mobile phone.

The spokesman said the pair then went to the Al-Shatie market in the north where they picked up a Sri Lankan woman after convincing her that they were security men.

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JEDDAH: In front of a government department in Prince Miteb Street sits a Saudi man in his mid-40s with an amputated right leg, begging for treatment and a job.

Visitors to the government department are used to seeing the beggar, whose leg was amputated after a car accident two years ago.

Advanced stage gangrene has set in his other leg, which is often bleeding.

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