With thousands of Saudis traveling abroad for their summer holidays, international gangs make use of the opportunity to snatch the maximum number of Saudi passports to sell to illegal migrants, terrorists and drug traffickers.
According to a report issued in 2005, 6,000 Saudi passports were lost or stolen in five years. “Many of these passports were lost while their holders were traveling abroad,” a senior official at the Passport Department said.
Every year, at the start of the summer vacation, the Passport Department instructs Saudis to take care of their passports when traveling abroad. “Your passport is your identity. Don’t lose it,” is the slogan of the department’s annual public awareness campaign, which also advises Saudi tourists not to visit suspicious and dangerous places.
Police reports showed the majority of Saudi tourists lose their passports while traveling in Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Bahrain. They have also reported loss of passports while visiting the United States, Indonesia, Turkey, France and Italy. The majority of people who lose their passports live in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Al-Ahsa.
“Saudis should be aware of the fact that their green passports are the main target of criminals and terrorists,” said Col. Hussein Al-Harithy, a senior passport official in Jeddah.
