Illegal Immigration...In The Arab World

In a very enlightening article on ArabView.com, Tarik Al Maeena writes the following about illegal aliens in Saudi Arabia:

There is a menace growing rampant right in our midst — the increasing numbers of overstayers and illegal aliens who have taken to the streets and neighborhoods to pursue the art of beggary without fear of being caught and deported.

More visible in Jeddah than in any of the major cities of the Kingdom, these illegals have flagrantly taken their art of panhandling to practically every street corner in full view of the people charged with the task of detaining them. Another army of such people can be spotted rummaging through trash bins in search of anything of value that could be pawned off to recyclers for a few extra riyals.

Just why is this phenomena on an unchecked upswing is anybody’s guess but I suspect the problem is two-fold. Most of such illegal aliens hide or destroy all forms of personal identification on their arrival at this country. Once rounded up, it becomes practically impossible for the authorities to determine where to deport them.

The other problem lies in the lack of proper detention facilities. Once caught, what do you do with them? To overcrowd our meager detention facilities with the people on the loose and cause a human tragedy of great proportions?

The rising number of illegals from African and Asian communities has spawned minicities within the city. These minicities are run and governed by gang leaders of these respective communities. Crime has been a major byproduct of their unchecked activities. Drugs, prostitution and even armed robbery can be attributed to the residents of these neighborhoods where even cops fear to enter. And as the spider’s web of their activities grows wider around the city, no neighborhood is safe any longer.

So well controlled and managed are some of these illegal communities that it may serve our municipality well to take some lessons in city organization and planning from these rogues. So how can we go about fighting this menace?

I propose that detention centers large enough to house a hundred thousand or so illegals be built in the desert east of Jeddah with proper facilities. The current neighborhoods housing them must be raided and these individuals rounded up.

Those who can produce documentation and prove their nationality can be deported to the country of their origin.

In the case of those in the majority who have no such papers, a system of identification by fingerprinting should be established to trace their origin. If they cannot produce any documents and all other efforts fail, then they have no choice but to remain guests of this detention facility far from the city until such time as their identity could be established. Such a process may take a couple of years to get through, but at the end of the day major centers for crime and other nefarious activities in the city would have been reduced to a trickle.

In the case of illegal children seen begging at parking lots, I propose the state warn their parents that rights over these children may be taken away from them and the state would then assume responsibility. By providing them with education and proper shelter, the state would be doing far more justice to these abused children than their own parents who are exploiting these innocent children. The longer we wait, the greater the problem grows. And we cannot keep turning a blind eye to it. Increasingly, tales of tragedy as a result of criminal activities have begun to touch us much closer than we would have ever thought.

Now what do you think would be the reaction if America decided to handle illegal immigration by raiding suspect neighborhoods and sending everyone to huge detention facilities? Yeah, the ACLU would have a field day with that one. Apparently it's okay for countries like Mexico and Saudi Arabia to crack down on illegal immigrants, but not America. How typically liberal.

There's my two cents.