JEDDAH: The Interior Ministry on Sunday launched a “A Nation Without Violations” campaign to give residency and labor law violators 90 days to leave the country without penalties.
Prince Mohammed bin Naif, crown prince, deputy prime minister and minister of interior, urged violators to take advantage of the 90-day grace period, which becomes effective March 29, to correct their status and make use of the assistance provided.
The crown prince directed authorities to facilitate the procedures of people who seek to leave the country within the specified period and relieve them from all sanctions.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said that 19 government agencies will carry out the campaign. He said the decision covers those who overstayed their Haj or Umrah visit, or any other type of visa.
He said procedures will be finalized for violators with no residence or work permits who infiltrated the borders illegally. Travel permits will be issued for those individuals.
The General Directorate of Passports and the Immigration Department completed preparations to facilitate the departure of violators.
Al-Turki said residents with no identity cards or who overstayed their Haj visa must visit the nearest Passport department to complete the procedures.
He also urged citizens and residents not to employ individuals who violated their work or residency permits, or cover up for them. He urged people to report violators by calling 999.
Once the grace period passes, penalties will levied against violators who remain.
Al-Turki said the same campaign was launched three years ago with more than 2.5 million violators departing under the program.
Marine Col. Saher Al-Harbi, spokesman of the Border Guard, said his department had returned thousands of illegal infiltrators who arrived via land and seaports.
90-day amnesty granted to residency, labor violators in Saudi Arabia
90-day amnesty granted to residency, labor violators in Saudi Arabia
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Saudi Arabia welcomes ceasefire agreement between Syrian Democratic Forces and Syria state
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has welcomed an agreement between the Syrian state and Syrian Democratic Forces.
In a foreign ministry statement early on Monday, the Kingdom said it had welcomed an deal between Damascus and Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces that was announced by the Syrian government on Sunday.
The agreement entails merging all SDF forces into the defense and interior ministries and means that Kurdish forces will redeploy to east of the Euphrates river.
The 14-point deal would also see the immediate administrative and military handover of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa governorates.
The Syrian state would regain control of all border crossings, oil fields, and gas fields in the region, with protection secured by regular forces to ensure the return of resources to the Syrian government, while considering the special case of Kurdish areas, the state news agency SANA reported.
The ceasefire comes after intense fighting between the SDF and government troops in Aleppo. But SDF troops have now pulled back from there and the Syrian army now controls most areas east of Aleppo.
The Saudi foreign ministry statement also thanked the US for the agreement. Washington is believed to have supported brokering the ceasefire between allies SDF and the Syrian government, who they have also backed diplomatically since the fall of long-time dictator Bashar Assad.
The Syrian state announced on Friday a raft of new directives to recognize Syrian Kurds, including making their language official and bolstering other rights for the minority group.
