Turki said that the committee's job focuses on holding meetings with the commanders of security sectors in the southern region to discuss the status quo with respect to end infiltration, prepare reports on the major developments in those areas and submit them to His Royal Highness the Minister of Interior. He stressed that the security situation at the border is firmly secured, yet the nature of some border areas such as mountains and valleys as well as the presence of residential complexes shared on both sides of the border still provide opportunities for infiltration which requires looking for appropriate ways to control and prevent infiltration and smuggling in a manner similar to what has successfully been carried out along the northern border of the Kingdom. In response to a question on the role of citizens to control illegal human presence in the Kingdom, Maj. Gen. Al-Turki urged citizens who have confirmed reports on illegal presence or infiltration to report to security authorities. However, dealing with infiltrators takes into consideration some important humanitarian considerations, he added. The Ministry of Interior official spokesman confirmed the integration of the roles of the security agencies in countering the infiltration and smuggling across the border, adding that the border guards in the southern regions have intercepted more than 1000 infiltration attempts across the southern border of the Kingdom, pointing out that the average number of infiltrators caught in Asir region exceeds 180 intruders daily.
