The Administrative Committee at the Expatriates Department in Makkah has issued jail sentences, fines and deportations in some 1,600 cases involving illegal aliens and breaches of labor and residency laws. Hussein Al-Harithi, Director of the Expatriates Department, said punishments for Saudis guilty of smuggling illegal entrants into the Kingdom or providing them with accommodation or employment varied depending on their number, while non-Saudis faced jail and deportation. “Some of those found guilty of breaches were expatriates who had fled from their sponsors claiming they had entered the country legally for Umra and lost their papers,” Al-Harithi said. “They were caught by the fingerprinting system.”
