Riyadh, Aug 11(Arab News): Saudi citizens have been arrested in Syria for no apparent reason, a human rights official has claimed in Riyadh.

“There is no justification for the arrest of dozens of Saudis in various cities in Syria apart from the fact that they are Saudi citizens,” Chairman of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) Muflih Al-Qahtani told Al-Watan daily on Wednesday.

Al-Qahtani said the NSHR received a number of calls from the relatives of Saudis who were arrested while traveling in Syria.

“It is unfortunate that Syrian authorities arrest many Saudis because of their nationality. There are also reports of hostile treatment of Saudis and Gulf citizens,” he said.

He, however, said the NSHR did not have the precise number of Saudis in Syrian jails.

The families of the imprisoned Saudis also do not know the locations of the jails where their relatives are being held. “Even the Saudi Embassy finds it hard to locate the detained people,” Al-Qahtani said.

NSHR has been keeping in touch with the Saudi Embassy in Damascus to obtain precise information about the jailed Saudi citizens.

“However, there are also unconfirmed reports that some of the arrested Saudis were facing criminal charges against them,” Al-Qahtani added. He said according to complaints received from affected families, the arrested citizens were not involved in any criminal acts and were incarcerated only because of their nationality.

Unable to supply clues about the whereabouts of their relatives to the NSHR, many families expressed worry over the fate of their relatives when they did not respond to phone calls, he said.

He called on Syrian authorities to either prosecute the arrested citizens or let them go free. He also demanded the authorities inform the Saudi Embassy of their locations.