Saudi Arabia, faced with its own illegal immigration problems, is attacking it directly by detaining and then deporting those not in the country legally, according to this Saudi Gazette article. The ‘Iqama’ cited in the piece is a formal residency permit, required of all foreigners in the country. Without one, or with a false one, deportation results immediately.

Police catch 119,000 Illegals
Ibrahim Alawi

JEDDAH – Some 119,000 illegal aliens have been arrested in Jeddah in the past months through the anti-crime campaign launched by the Passport Patrol Department in Makkah region.

About 113,000 of these were overstayers while the rest were found to have violated the Iqama rules.
Some 28,735 Pakistanis who entered the Kingdom using Umrah and Haj visas, topped the list of the overstayers. Indians ranked second (21,984), then Yemenis (14,970).

Many of the illegal aliens stayed in the Kandara District (44,625 overstayers) and Petromine District (3,588 last year).

Six Arabs afflicted with AIDS who were deported two years ago were also caught by passport patrols. The Arabs reentered the Kingdom also using Umrah visas.

The Investigation and Detection Department has also seized many fake passports, forged Iqamas and Haj permits, and counterfeit Labor of Ministry stamps in Jeddah.