Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior says a week-long nationwide enforcement campaign, run from August 20 to 26 in coordination with other government agencies, resulted in the deportation of 14,905 people and the arrest of 14,434 others for residency, labour, or border-security violations. Of those arrested, 6,976 were cited for residency violations, 4,110 for breaches of border-security regulations, and 3,348 for labour-law violations. The campaign also caught 1,450 people attempting to enter the country illegally — 58% Ethiopian nationals and 41% Yemeni — plus 44 people caught trying to leave illegally, and 27 people accused of transporting, sheltering, or employing rule-breakers.
Of the total, the ministry said 18,914 people were referred to their diplomatic missions to obtain travel documents and 2,867 were referred to complete travel arrangements, while a further 29,938 expatriates (27,957 men, 1,981 women) remain in the process of having immigration and residency rules enforced against them.
The Interior Ministry reiterated its standing warning: anyone found transporting illegal entrants within the Kingdom, sheltering them, or otherwise assisting them can face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to SR1 million, with vehicles and properties used in the offence subject to confiscation.
This is one installment in an ongoing, recurring campaign rather than a one-off event — Saudi authorities have published broadly similar weekly enforcement tallies in the range of 10,000–14,000+ deportations and arrests over recent weeks. Expats currently in the Kingdom, or with staff/tenants there, should treat this as confirmation that residency and labour-permit checks remain an active, continuing enforcement priority rather than a signal of a new or escalating policy shift.
References
Gulf News – Saudi Arabia deports more than 14,900 after nationwide residency crackdown
