Eleven workers without legal residence permits were arrested by the Makkah Region Passports Directorate here, Tuesday. A team led by Brig. Abdul Rahman Al-Twairqi, passports director, raided a house located at Al-Hindawiya District in Jeddah, according to a report in Al-Madina Arabic daily. It found an Indonesian housemaid broker hiding five housemaids who had run away from their sponsors. One of the housemaids jumped off the second floor in an attempt to escape but was arrested after the Red Crescent examined her and found her to be uninjured. The workers and housemaids were all taken to the Deportation Center. The team raided another house and found 15 beggars with their children all of whom had entered the country illegally. The beggars used false medical reports to gain sympathy and collect money from the public. Street vendors were also caught in some houses and on the streets of the district. Vendors who used storehouses to store jasmine and flower garlands and later sell them at traffic signals, were arrested as they did not have residence permits. Col. Muhammad Al-Hussain, spokesman of Makkah Region Passports Directorate, said all undocumented workers were sent to the Deportation Center where their fingerprints were taken. A reporter saw a number of illegal workers who tried to hide in cupboards, bathrooms, and underneath beds to evade detection.
