Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior (MoI) announced severe penalties for employers hiring illegal expats. Businesses found guilty of employing expatriates in violation of regulations, enabling their employees to work for others, or outsourcing their employees to other businesses will be fined SR 100,000.

These penalties also include imprisonment for the responsible manager for up to a year, and a recruitment ban for up to five years, according to a tweet from the Ministry. If the manager is an expatriate, they may also face deportation.

The ministry has called on the public to support the security authorities' efforts to reduce violations of residency, work, and border security regulations. The public can do this by refraining from employing, sheltering, transporting, or hiding violators.

Those in Mecca, Riyadh, and Sharqiya can call (911), while those throughout the Kingdom can dial (999).

The ministry has emphasised the importance of reporting these violations to ensure adherence to the law.

During a week-long campaign, 13,308 individuals violating residency, labour laws and border security regulations were apprehended across various regions of Saudi Arabia.

The ministry said that these arrests were the result of joint field operations conducted by different security force units throughout the Kingdom from July 20 to 26.

An additional 572 individuals were detained while attempting to cross the kingdom’s border; of these, 62 per cent were Yemeni, 37 per cent were Ethiopian, and 1 per cent belonged to other nationalities. In addition, 58 individuals were intercepted while trying to exit Saudi Arabia illegally.

Nine individuals associated with transporting and sheltering those in violation of residency and work regulations were also apprehended.

Approximately 36,953 offenders are currently undergoing procedural actions for violations of their respective regulations.