JEDDAH: More than 2.5 million violators of residency, work and border security systems have been arrested in a year-long roundup, according to an official report.
Since the campaign began in November 2017 the total number of offenders was 2,504,037, which included 1,949,024 for violating residency regulations, 383,033 for labor violations and 171,980 for border violations.
The report said that 41,233 people were arrested while trying to cross the border into the Kingdom, 51 percent of whom were Yemeni citizens, 46 percent were Ethiopians and 3 percent were of other nationalities.
Some 1,852 people were arrested for trying to cross the border into neighboring countries and 3,305 were arrested for involvement in transporting and harboring those violators.
Immediate penalties were imposed against 385,898 offenders; 345,075 were transferred to their respective diplomatic missions to obtain travel documents; 430,271 were transferred to complete their travel reservations; and 637,507 were deported.