RIYADH: Nearly 2.78 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 2,788,883.
The report said that 47,437 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.
1,980 people were arrested for trying to cross the border into neighboring countries and 3,445 were arrested for involvement in transporting and harboring those violators. 1,145 Saudi citizens were arrested for harboring the violators against local laws, of which 35 are being detained, pending the completion of procedures.
Immediate penalties were imposed against 419,874 offenders; 380,767 were transferred to their respective diplomatic missions to obtain travel documents; 475,179 were transferred to complete their travel reservations; and 703,995 were deported.