Saudi Arabia has arrested 10,725 people in a single week for violating residency, labour, and border security regulations, the General Directorate of Passports announced, in one of the Kingdom’s largest recent enforcement operations as Riyadh intensifies its crackdown on illegal residents and undocumented migrant workers.
Of the total detained, 5,899 were arrested for violations of residency laws under the Iqama permit system, 1,742 for labour-related offences, and 3,084 for illegal border crossing attempts, according to Arab News. Among those apprehended for attempting to enter the Kingdom illegally, 55 percent were Ethiopian nationals, 43 percent were Yemeni, and 2 percent were from other countries.
Saudi authorities conduct weekly enforcement drives under the umbrella of a permanent, year-round campaign to enforce compliance with the Kingdom’s immigration, labour, and border security laws. The campaign is coordinated across the General Directorate of Passports, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, and the General Directorate of Public Security, with joint teams conducting raids on residential compounds, worksites, and commercial establishments across all administrative regions.
The crackdown operates in tandem with Riyadh’s Nitaqat programme, which requires private-sector employers to meet minimum quotas of Saudi national employees — known as Saudisation targets — across all salary bands and industry classifications. Businesses that fall below their Nitaqat threshold are barred from issuing new work permits and residency visas, creating a powerful commercial incentive to keep migrant worker documentation fully compliant. Employers who knowingly retain undocumented workers face fines and, in repeated cases, the suspension of their operating licences.
The enforcement drive is a key pillar of the Saudi government’s Vision 2030 economic transformation strategy, which seeks to increase Saudi nationals’ participation in private-sector employment and reduce the Kingdom’s structural dependence on low-skill migrant labour. Saudi Arabia is home to an estimated 13 million expatriate workers, the majority employed in construction, hospitality, domestic services, retail, and transport.
Individuals arrested for residency and labour violations are processed through deportation centres operated by the Directorate of Passports, pending repatriation to their home countries. Those found to have committed additional offences — including document forgery, operating unauthorised businesses, or facilitating the illegal entry of others — may face criminal prosecution and extended detention before deportation. Saudi Arabia additionally imposes re-entry bans of varying lengths on those deported for serious or repeat violations.
Amnesty windows have periodically been extended by Saudi authorities, allowing undocumented foreign nationals to depart voluntarily without penalty. Officials have renewed calls for those currently residing in the Kingdom without valid Iqama documentation to use regularisation channels immediately, warning that those who fail to do so face arrest, fines, and permanent bans on future entry to Saudi Arabia.
The regional security environment has also intensified migration pressures across the Gulf. The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — which has suppressed commercial activity and deepened economic dislocation across Yemen and the Horn of Africa — has contributed to a sustained rise in illegal border crossing attempts into the Kingdom. The Eastern Herald reported this week that American and Iranian negotiators reached a framework agreement to reopen the Strait within 30 days, a development that, if implemented, could ease the economic pressures driving migration from the region’s most vulnerable populations.
Saudi Arabia’s simultaneous management of its diplomatic and domestic agendas reflects the Crown Prince’s broader foreign policy confidence. The Eastern Herald reported this week that Mohammed bin Salman declined French President Emmanuel Macron’s personal invitation to the G7 Évian Arab-leaders session, instead hosting Macron’s Middle East adviser bilaterally in Riyadh to discuss the same Iran-and-Hormuz file — signalling Riyadh’s preference for conducting strategic conversations on its own terms, independent of Western multilateral formats.
Human rights organisations have long criticised Saudi Arabia’s Kafala sponsorship system, under which migrant workers are legally tied to a single employer and require their sponsor’s permission to change jobs or exit the country. The International Labour Organization and groups including Human Rights Watch have called for the full abolition of the Kafala model, arguing it enables exploitation, debt bondage, and wage theft, particularly among domestic workers who are excluded entirely from Saudi labour law protections. Saudi Arabia has introduced partial reforms to the Kafala system in recent years — allowing some categories of workers to transfer employment without prior employer consent — but rights advocates say enforcement of those reforms remains deeply inconsistent.
Gulf News has documented a sustained pattern of Saudi Arabia’s enforcement operations, with weekly arrest tallies fluctuating between 7,000 and 25,000 depending on operational intensity. The Kingdom has historically escalated enforcement activity ahead of major national events, Islamic religious seasons, and moments of domestic economic reform.
The United Arab Emirates, facing comparable pressures over its own migrant labour workforce, this week navigated its own diplomatic complexity: The Eastern Herald reported that Abu Dhabi had quietly agreed to unlock billions in frozen Iranian assets to stop missile attacks on its territory, before publicly denying any transfer — illustrating the intricate balance Gulf states must strike between security, economics, and public positioning in a region in rapid flux.
As Saudi Arabia prepares to host Expo 2030 in Riyadh and the 2034 FIFA World Cup — both of which will require a rapid scaling of construction and hospitality workforces — the governance of its vast migrant labour population is expected to remain one of the Kingdom’s most complex and politically sensitive domestic policy challenges.
