Saudi Arabia: Thousands arrested as amnesty on illegal workers ends

The grace period for illegal workers ended on 3 November and, within days, thousands of migrant workers violating labour and immigration laws had been rounded up. The government announced earlier this year that it would crack down on expatriate workers whose papers were not in order, as part of attempts to tighten the labour market and get more nationals into jobs. Thousands were deported and, in early April, following an international outcry (particularly from Yemen, which relies heavily on remittances from workers abroad), King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz announced there would be a grace period to get paperwork in order, which was initially for three months and later extended.