Archive: https://archive.is/2025.03.16-051824/https://www.ft.com/content/49fe2291-1d1e-4a3d-ae04-7348e3258874

Saudi Arabia has arrested more than 50 suspects for crimes including prostitution and begging after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the creation of a unit to police “immoral acts”, following years of loosening the kingdom’s hardline social restrictions.

The Ministry of Interior — set up to address “community security and human trafficking” — has arrested 11 women for prostitution, the first time Saudi authorities have publicly acknowledged the existence of the practice in more than a decade.

It has also rounded up dozens of foreigners for “immoral acts” in massage parlours and for forcing women and children to work as street beggars.