“The Saudi authorities arrested a total of 33,353 “illegal expatriates” and deported 14,304 during the first week of the crackdown against migrants which began on November 4, according to the General Directorate of Prisons. In Riyadh, some 17,000 “illegal Ethiopians” have surrendered following the riot on Saturday in which two people died, police spokesman Nasser al-Qahtani said. The number arrested in connection with the riot has now risen to 1,199 – including 119 women and 11 children. In Makkah, about 500 “African illegals” were rounded up on Monday. They had gathered under a bridge with their families and were blocking roads – apparently in protest at delays in their repatriation after failing to regularise their status in the kingdom. There have been similar incidents elsewhere. On Saturday, about 300 Afghans gathered outside their consulate in Jeddah, protesting at delays in completing their deportation arrangements. Arab News says police took them to a detention centre by bus and were trying to “expedite travel procedures”. On Sunday, hundreds of stranded Filipinos, including women and children, assembled in Makkah, causing traffic jams. .…………If the border guards’ figure of 20,000 Yemeni deportations is correct, the nationwide figure of 14,000 deportations given by the General Directorate of Prisons must be wrong (and vice versa). Either way, the scale of the current upheaval in Saudi Arabia is extraordinary though it continues to get scant international coverage… …………”