Members of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) on Sunday expressed concerns over conditions in the Passports Department detention facility in Asir region. Dr. Ali Bin Eisa Al-Sha'bi, a NSHR representative in Asir region who toured the facility, said: “Among the most prominent observations were overcrowding; imprisonment of children, old people and unidentified persons; and health, living and cleaning services clearly not meeting required standards.” There are also delays in resolving cases and the detainees' home countries must address the problem of people entering or staying in the Kingdom illegally, he added. “We also noticed that the regulatory procedures did not measure up to the required level, which resulted in not finalizing cases of a number of people being held and delays in their deportation,” Dr. Al-Sha'bi said. “At the same time, countries must contribute in bearing the burdens of their overstaying citizens, particularly those who have repeatedly entered the Kingdom illegally and arrested.” Calling for “urgent and immediate solutions to address the situation in the Deportation Administration here, Dr. Al-Sha'bi said there was a need for a larger building that suits the administration's volume of work and more specialist investigation officers to handle the accumulating cases and speed up the deportation of those being held. Huge numbers of people arrive at the detention facilities every day and most of those arrested lack education, said Lt. Col. Sa'eed Al-Qahtani, Director of Expatriates' Affairs Administration in Asir region. When the time for their deportation draws near, they damage the building, equipment and lights, he added. Al-Qahtani agreed that it can take a considerable amount of time to deport people. “There are measures according to regulations for people with cases, but these procedures can take a long time. However, whoever fulfills all the conditions for deportation is deported, after their fingerprints are taken, either through Al-Tuwal border post or the Jeddah airport. There are daily buses to transport the overstayers and deport them.”
