Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — A number of illegal expatriates who are being detained at the deportation center in Al-Shumaisy between Jeddah and Makkah have praised the treatment they have received. They said they are being provided with good food and receiving medical care whenever they request it. They, however, complained that their deportation takes a long time to process. The center has a 50-bed hospital and 460 barracks, each accommodating about 65 people. Women and children have separate accommodation. "The services offered to us at the center are spectacular and the treatment we receive there is excellent," said Zainuddin Fadil, an Indonesian detainee. He told business daily Al-Eqtisadiah on Sunday that the food was good and medical attention was available at any time. Fadil said when he was first brought to the center he thought he would be harshly treated because he had violated labor and residence laws. He said: "To my great surprise I found the treatment to be excellent. “There was plenty of food and medical care was available whenever required. “There was great respect shown to us by security officers." Fadil, however, hoped his deportation would be expedited so that he would soon go back home. Rahmatullah Mohammed, a Pakistani detainee, also praised the treatment he was receiving at the center. He said: “We received excellent treatment. Everybody at the center was ready to help us and meet our needs and requirements. We were not at all maltreated by the security officers, who showed us great respect.” Col. Badr Bin Saud Al-Saud, Makkah Police's director of public relations and information, said when the illegal expatriates were apprehended, they would immediately be taken to the center where they would be classified. "The expatriates who are wanted for crimes will be handed over to the police while those nabbed for violating residence and work laws will be kept at the center after they are fingerprinted," he said. Al-Saud said the personal belongings of the detainees will be kept in special safes and they themselves would be detained in special barracks inside the center until their travel documents are issued by their consulates. "The detainees will be deported within 48 hours at the expense of the government, depending on how fast their own consulates issue them with travel documents," he said. Abdullah Al-Ajhar, executive assistant director general of Saudi Arabian Airlines for public relations, said Saudia provided 340 extra flights at the rate of 17 flights a day to fly detainees to their respective homes within 20 days from Nov. 11-31. "Saudia has chartered a number of aircraft to fly the detainees to their homes," he said. Meanwhile, an official spokesman for Riyadh Police said at least eight locations in the capital where violating expatriates were staying have been identified. "Police have made a plan to arrest these violators within two months," he added. The spokesman said police would visit each of these locations more than once to make sure they were completely empty of any violators. He said security patrols have standing orders to inspect any commercial establishment to make sure they are not employing illegal expatriates. According to him, illegal expatriates are usually found in neighborhoods in the eastern, central and western parts of the city, including Al-Arbaeen Street in the Al-Naseem district, Al-Fayha and also at car workshops and construction supplies shops. "Pakistanis constitute about 70 percent of these illegal expatriates," he said. Faisal Al-Otaibi, director of the inspection department at the Ministry of Labor, said the ministry's inspectors would visit all commercial establishments to ensure they do not have any illegal workers. He said in the first instance a violating establishment would be given a month to correct their violations before it is closed down completely.
