Saudi Arabia deports 290 Indians, including 20 Keralites, for violating labor and residency rules. About 400 more Indians are being held in a deportation center in Riyadh. With the decline of COVID, most of the foreigners in the deportation center have reached back to their countries. With this, extensive search will continue to find those who remain in the country in violation of work and visa rules.
The number of Indians arrested for violating the law in Saudi Arabia is increasing. Hundreds of Keralites have already been arrested. Since the start of the COVID restrictions, 2971 people have been deported from Saudi Arabia to India. The Saudi Interior and Labor Ministries intensified the search as the COVID cases reduced. In many places, people were inspected on the roads and were transferred to the deportation center in real time. Those who working without registering in iqama were also arrested. Most of those arrested were house drivers.
Those currently in deportation centers will be repatriated in stages. They will be banned from traveling to Saudi Arabia. Most of the group that arrived in India on a Saudi Airlines flight on Monday were from Uttar Pradesh - 116 people. About 20 Keralites, 11 from Tamil Nadu, 15 from Andhra Pradesh, 22 from Bihar, 54 from West Bengal and 18 from Rajasthan.
The repatriation process is being completed in collaboration with the embassies. Even leaving without iqama and documents can be difficult if not taken care of.