Riyadh, Nov 10: Hundreds of illegal migrants targeted in a Saudi nationwide crackdown turned themselves in today after security forces besieged a Riyadh neighbourhood where riots had killed two people.
Hundreds of illegal migrants targeted in a Saudi nationwide crackdown turned themselves in today after security forces besieged a Riyadh neighbourhood where riots had killed two people.
Arrested rioters are handcuffed and corralled along a street in Manfouha on Saturday night
Men, women and children lined up carrying their belongings to board police buses transferring them to an assembly centre before their deportation, a week after a seven-month amnesty expired.
Police said they intervened yesterday following riots in the poor Manfuhah neighbourhood of the capital after foreigners attacked Saudis and other foreign expats with rocks and knives.
One Saudi and another person, whose nationality and identity remains unknown, were killed, said a police statement carried by the SPA state news agency.
Another 68 people -- 28 Saudis and 40 foreigners -- were injured and 561 were arrested.
The Manfuhah district of Riyadh is home to many illegal migrants, mostly from east Africa.
Today, police laid siege to the district while units from the National Guard and special forces were sent in, an AFP photojournalist said.
Most of the foreign workers involved in the clashes appeared to be Africans.
In a previous statement, the police did not refer directly to Saturday's clashes, or say how many had been injured or detained, but said that in light of "what has happened", the authorities had designated a location for people to surrender voluntarily.
Authorities this year said they would no longer turn a blind eye to foreign workers breaking visa rules by working for companies that had not sponsored their entry into the world's top oil exporter.
The intention is to end a black market for cheap imported workers, cut the foreign labour force, reduce the flow of remittances to other countries and make more private sector jobs available for Saudi citizens.
A seven-month amnesty for foreigners to rectify their visa status without penalty or leave the country - which prompted an exodus of hundreds of thousands of foreigners - expired on Monday, prompting the start of the crackdown. Thousands have been arrested.
Many of those caught in raids on shops, marketplaces, businesses and low-income residential areas are likely to be deported.
Many expatriate workers say they were unable to take advantage of the amnesty because of bureaucratic difficulties or disputes with their original sponsors.
In some streets in Manfuhah, men in Saudi dress had also gathered in small groups, some of them carrying knives and iron bars, saying they were protecting their property. Other people watched from rooftops.
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