In a dramatic and concerning escalation of capital punishment, Saudi Arabia has executed more than 100 foreign nationals in the first half of 2024, surpassing the total number of executions of non-citizens in both 2022 and 2023. The surge includes executions of individuals from a range of countries, including Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, and others from Nigeria, Egypt, Jordan, and Ethiopia. 

This unprecedented rise in the use of the death penalty for foreign nationals has sparked alarm among human rights groups and foreign diplomats, who point to longstanding concerns about the fairness of trials for non-citizens in Saudi Arabia’s judicial system.

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The number of foreign nationals executed this year includes 21 Pakistanis, 20 from Yemen, 14 from Syria, 10 from Nigeria, nine from Egypt, eight from Jordan and seven from Ethiopia. Three each were hanged from India, Sudan, and Afghanistan and one each from Sri Lanka, Eritrea and the Philippines.

The latest execution was of a Yemeni national convicted of smuggling drugs into the Middle East kingdom. With this execution, a total of 101 foreign nationals have been put to death by Saudi Arabia in 2024. 

According to the news agency AFP, this is three times the figures for 2023 and 2022 when the authorities had executed 34 foreign nationals each year. 

"This is the largest number of executions of foreigners in one year. Saudi Arabia has never executed 100 foreigners in a year," Taha al-Hajji, Berlin-based European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) legal director, told AFP.

In 2022, Saudi Arabia lifted a three-year moratorium on the execution of drug offenders, leading to a significant increase in executions for drug-related crimes. As of this year, 92 individuals have been executed for such offences, with 69 of them being foreign nationals. 

According to human rights advocate Hajji of the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR), foreign nationals are particularly vulnerable, often becoming "victims of major drug dealers" and experiencing violations from the moment of their arrest through to their execution.