In a statement, the police said there was no truth to the newspaper’s claim that 19 Yemenis, living illegally in the Kingdom, died about two months ago when the Saudi police shot them. “The Yemenis were being smuggled to the western region by a Saudi citizen in his vehicle. The vehicle broke down at a place known as ‘Arouk Skouk’ near Bisha.”
“Three of them died of dehydration caused by sunstroke while the others (16) were turned over to the Passport Department to be deported after receiving appropriate medical treatment,” the statement said.
A spokesman for the Asir police, Col. Abdullah Al-Qarni, told Arab News that the statement was meant to clarify facts about what the Yemeni print and electronic media have been saying about the treatment of Yemeni migrants by Saudi police.
“There was no official request from the Yemeni side for clarification,” he said, adding that many illegal overstayers commit robbery, theft and other crimes.
The Yemeni Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper and other media last year alleged that 18 Yemeni overstayers were burned alive by the Saudi police in the Khamis Mushayt garbage dump.
The spokesman refuted these claims as baseless and said many of the foreign nationals suffered burns of varying degrees as a result of a massive fire at the dump.
