Saudi Arabia arrests 10,850 expats for violating visa rules; highest number of offenders are from this country

RIYADH: 10,850 expats have been arrested in Saudi Arabia for breaching residency, work and border security regulations. They were arrested during a joint operation by various Saudi security forces from May 5 to 11. Those arrested include 6,565 residence law violators, 3,012 border security violators and 1,273 labor law violators.

In addition, 56 people were arrested for trying to cross the border into the country. Security forces have arrested 14 people for providing shelter to them. Of those arrested, 47 percent were Ethiopians, 35 percent Yemenis and 18 percent from other countries. Currently, 83,457 expats are being punished in Saudi Arabia for such offenses. Of these, 79,313 were males and 4,144 were females.