Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia has launched one of its largest crackdowns on illegal foreign labor.

The Interior Ministry has oversaw the arrest of tens of thousands of foreigners accused of overstaying their work visas.

Officials said security forces were raiding locations frequented by foreign laborers throughout the Gulf Cooperation Council kingdom.

“More than 5,000 expatriate workers were arrested on the very first day of the police campaign against violators of labor and residency laws,” police spokesman Col. Badar Bin Saud Al Saud said.

The crackdown began on Nov. 4 in the Mecca province and came after weeks of government warnings that illegals must either register with authorities or leave the kingdom. Police and security forces also arrested thousands in other Saudi provinces.

In all, about 20,000 people were said to have been detained. Another
10,000 have fled to neighboring Yemen.

“This campaign should not be misconstrued as an attempt to drive out
expatriate workers but to regularize the status of foreign workers in the
kingdom,” Al Saud, spokesman for Mecca police, said. “So we seek the
cooperation of all citizens and expatriates.”

The crackdown has sent Saudi Arabia’s huge illegal labor force
underground. Many stores that had employed Asian workers were closed in such
cities as Jedda and Riyad.

Private schools also shut their doors as teachers fled rather than risk
arrest. About one-third of the 27 million in Saudi Arabia are foreigners,
with 1.5 million deemed illegals.

“The field security campaign, in coordination with the labor minister,
will take place in all cities, provinces, villages, and rural towns,”
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al Turki said.

Officials said nearly one million Asians left Saudi Arabia in wake of
the amnesty announced in April 2013 and which expired on Nov. 3. Most of
them came from such countries as India, Pakistan, Philippines and Yemen.

“We want more Saudi men and women to work in the private and public
sectors,” Saudi Deputy Labor Minister Mufrej Al Haqbani said.

  Col. Badar Bin Saud Al Saud, Mecca province, overstaying work visas, Smackdown: Saudis arrest tens of thousands of illegal alien laborers