Illegal Expats in Jeddah District Upset Residents
Illegal women and children scavenging garbage bins in Al-Kurantinya District in south Jeddah. — Okaz photo
JEDDAH — With the start of a crackdown against residence and labor law violators, residents of Al-Kurantinya District in south Jeddah are hoping that the campaign will rid them of illegal expatriates mainly from African countries, especially women who are scavenging garbage bins, begging and aimlessly roaming the streets.
The residents said the women were not only living in the streets but also using the help of their children to scavenge.
One resident said: “The scavengers turn the bins upside down looking for cans, empty plastic bottles and bread.
“They litter the streets with the dirty contents of the bins.” He said the women have also taught their children to do the same thing and to beg at traffic lights, gas stations and mosques.
“The residents fear for their health as a result of this while the concerned authorities are turning a blind eye and a deaf ear,” he added.
Sultan Al-Rawaili, a Saudi resident, said the neighborhood has been suffering in silence for a long time.
“The area’s basic infrastructure is deteriorating. “This has encouraged the violators to tamper with the neighborhood without fear from the authorities.”
Rawaili said there were many thefts and cases of physical violence in Al-Kurantinya. He hoped the crackdown campaign against the violators would be fruitful and clear the district of the illegal residents.
He believes that if the district is lighted and its streets asphalted and widened, it would be a better area.
“The violators have found safe haven in Al-Kurantinya and therefore they are not willing to leave,” he said.
Mansour Massad, another Saudi resident, said he was “astonished” that the illegal residents were openly violating the law but nothing was being done.
He said the illegal expats were barbecuing meat in the open air and running restaurants established in large courtyards that pose health and safety hazards.
“The food served in these restaurants is unsafe for consumers and the cooking utensils are never clean,” he said.