Above: Residents and undocumented Ethiopians, blocking traffic, scuffle with the Jeddah police intervening. Below: Jeddah police gear up to resolve the sit-in blockade of Ethiopian undocumented workers on Sitteen Street in Jeddah as people look on. * 20 Ethiopians held in Jeddah for incitement * Recruitment of Turkey domestic workers: Not true
Saudi Gazette report
JEDDAH – About 20 Ethiopian nationals were arrested for inciting people to gather in front of the deportation building in Jeddah and creating chaos Thursday morning. All the violators who gathered at the location were apprehended and taken to a shelter home, Jeddah Police spokesman First Lt. Nawaf Al-Bouq said Thursday. Al-Bouq said: “At 8:05 a.m., the police operations room received a report that large numbers of illegal residents had gathered in front of the deportation building, hindering traffic flow and closing Sitteen Street (King Fahd Road). “This went on for 20 minutes. Those who gathered at the place were of various nationalities. The majority were Ethiopian nationals. “Immediately, police patrols arrived at the scene and dispersed those who gathered at the place and controlled the situation. “Traffic flow was resumed and calm restored in a short time.” Al-Bouq said all of them had not completed the procedures to obtain temporary travel documents from their consulates. They did not hold passports and wanted to leave the Kingdom for their countries. They were incited to gather on this street and tried to hinder the efforts of the policemen to control the situation from the very start, he said. Twenty Ethiopian nationals who incited the rest were arrested and handed over to Al-Kandarah police station. They will be referred for investigation at the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution. Al-Bouq said all the violators were arrested and taken to the shelter home until all procedures are completed at their consulates so they can be deported. No injuries or criminal cases occurred. Meanwhile, Okaz reported that the Ethiopian Embassy's delay in issuing travel documents to those who surrendered to the police resulted in small riots occurring once again on Wednesday afternoon in Riyadh's Manfohah district. The situation was controlled by the police. In an another development, the Ministry of Labor has denied news reports in certain sections of the media and social networking sites that the ministry had agreed with Turkey to recruit domestic workers. The ministry's Undersecretary of International Affairs Dr. Ahmad Bin Fahd Al-Fuhaid said the ministry has not held any negotiations or meetings with Turkish officials in this regard. He added that the Minister of Labor Adel Fakieh would follow up and sign a deal to recruit domestic workers from India during his forthcoming visit to the South Asian nation. He said that an agreement has been reached between the Kingdom and India on various aspects concerning recruitment of domestics. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labor's inspection teams have intensified their inspection tours in all regions of the Kingdom to confirm that firms and expatriate workers are complying with the residency (iqama) and labor regulations. In Riyadh city, inspection focused on several areas. The inspection tours included the “telecommunications complex” in Al-Mursalat district and Khaled Bin Al-Waleed “Inkas” Street. The teams detected many violations. A big number of expatriate workers fled from the inspectors leaving their shops open. They escaped to the narrow streets and surrounding outlets. Director General of the General Administration for Inspection Faisal Al-Otaibi said the ministry has not exempted any sector from the inspection campaigns.
