Explained: Why Saudi Arabia Executed Over 100 Foreigners This Year

Saudi Arabia executed 101 foreigners in 2024, the largest number of people put to death in a single year in the kingdom's history. The figure represents nearly three times the number of foreigners executed in 2023 and 2022 (34 each year).

Human rights organisations have accused the kingdom of an unprecedented escalation in its use of the death penalty.

Drug-related offences drove many of these deaths. Of the 92 executions linked to drug crimes this year, 69 involved foreign nationals.

"Foreigners are the most vulnerable group," Taha al-Hajji, the legal director of the European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR), was quoted as saying by the news agency AFP. "They are often victims of major drug dealers and subjected to a series of violations from the moment of their arrest until their execution."

As the number of executions continues to rise, families of those on death row are left in constant fear.

"Families of foreign nationals on death row are understandably terrified that their loved one will be next," said Jeed Basyouni from the anti-death penalty group Reprieve.

He called the situation an "unprecedented execution crisis."

According to AFP, foreigners executed this year included 21 from Pakistan, 20 from Yemen, 14 from Syria, 10 from Nigeria, nine from Egypt, eight from Jordan and seven from Ethiopia. There were also three each from Sudan, India and Afghanistan, and one each from Sri Lanka, Eritrea and the Philippines.

The kingdom has been under increasing scrutiny for its use of the death penalty, with international organisations such as Amnesty International citing Saudi Arabia as the third-largest executor of prisoners worldwide, behind China and Iran.

The high number of executions this year contradicts claims of Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who, in a 2022 interview with The Atlantic, said the kingdom had abolished the death penalty, except for cases involving murder or individuals posing a threat to many lives.