RIYADH: An illegal migrant has died and nine others were wounded when Saudi police intervened to quell “chaos” at a detention centre in the west of the kingdom, police said yesterday.
The casualties fell during a “stampede” at Al Shumaisi detention centre, south of the holy city of Makkah, where migrants of various nationalities are held pending deportation.
Detainees “tried to cause chaos... resulting in damages to the centre,” Makkah police spokesman Commander Ati Al Qurashi said.
He did not elaborate on the nature of the disturbances but said that police “had to intervene” and that a migrant was killed and nine others wounded in a “stampede”.
The spokesman did not provide details on the nationalities of the casualties, the number of illegals held at the centre, or the progress made in their deportation procedures.
Police have been cracking down on illegal migrants since the expiration in early November of a seven-month amnesty during which they had to regularise their status or leave the country.
The operations have sparked deadly clashes, with two Saudis, a Sudanese and another foreigner killed, according to official figures.
The Ethiopian embassy in Riyadh has said three Ethiopians were killed in clashes.
More than 307,000 illegal migrants have been expelled since the start of the campaign, according to Saudi authorities.
Arson, looting displace 20,000
in Darfur
KHARTOUM: Arson and looting by militia has displaced about 20,000 people in Sudan’s Darfur, adding to the strain on agencies struggling to aid almost two million uprooted by 11 years of war.
International peacekeepers in the region said they were deeply concerned about a reported escalation of violence in South Darfur state during the past few days.
“The violence has resulted in the reported burning of a number of villages and the displacement of a large number of civilians in the vicinity of Um Gunya,” about 50 kilometres (30 miles) southeast of the state capital Nyala, the African Union-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said in a statement.
Looting and civilian casualties have also been reported, UNAMID added.
AFP
