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| Hundreds of foreign workers were leaving the Manfuhah district on Sunday |
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Two people
have been killed and scores wounded as Saudi police clashed with protesting
foreign workers in a district of the capital, Riyadh.
A police
statement said hundreds of people were arrested in the Manfuhah neighbourhood.
Video on
social media websites showed security forces in riot gear using truncheons to
disperse large crowds.
Last week
police rounded up thousands of migrant workers after an amnesty linked to new
employment rules expired.
Police said
they intervened on Saturday after foreign workers in the Manfuhah district
rioted, attacking Saudi and other foreign residents with rocks and knives.
Manfuhah is
home to many migrants, mostly from east Africa.
One of the
two people killed was a Saudi while the other was unidentified, police said.
About 70 others were injured and there were some 560 arrests, officials added.
On Sunday,
witnesses said police were surrounding the district while units from the National
Guard and special forces were sent in.
Nearby,
hundreds of men, women and children lined up with their belongings to board
police buses taking them to an assembly centre before their deportation, AFP
news agency reported.
Images
showed other foreign workers leaving the Manfuhah area in taxis.
Last
Monday, the authorities began rounding up thousands of illegal foreign workers
following the expiry of a seven-month amnesty for them to formalise their
status.
An
Ethiopian was reported killed on Wednesday as Saudi police began moving illegal
immigrants into camps. The government in Addis Ababa has said it is providing
support for Ethiopian workers and is helping to repatriate its citizens.
Nearly a
million Bangladeshis, Indians, Filipinos, Nepalis, Pakistanis and Yemenis are
estimated to have left the country in the past three months.
Four
million others obtained work permits before last Sunday's deadline.
Saudi
Arabia has the Arab world's largest economy, but authorities are trying to
reduce the 12% unemployment rate among native Saudis.
An
estimated nine million migrant workers are in Saudi Arabia - more than half the
workforce - filling manual, clerical, and service jobs.
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