When Ruth Waithera arrived in Dubai on a visitor visa in 2024, she hoped to find work and build a better future.
Instead, the Kenyan mother found herself stranded, undocumented and homeless, with a newborn daughter to care for and no way of returning home.
“I became pregnant and delivered my baby girl,” Ms Waithera told The National during a tour of Dubai's Centre for Harbouring. “It was so stressful for me as I couldn’t provide food or shelter for us. It was one of the hardest times of my life.”
After months of uncertainty, a friend told Ms Waithera to take her two-month-old baby, Skula, and ask for help at Al Awir Centre, which is operated by the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA).
“I was in a very bad situation but they welcomed us immediately,” she said. “A female officer listened to my story and assured me they would help me to return to my country.”
The centre provided accommodation, meals, medical care and clothing for the mother and child before working with her consulate to issue a replacement travel document.
“They surprised me with a ticket to go home on July 31 after solving all my problems and getting new documents. I can’t thank them enough for what they did for me and my baby.”
Lt Gen Mohammed Al Marri, director general of GDRFA-Dubai, said the dedicated facility accommodates people who have breached the UAE’s residency and immigration laws while their cases are being processed.
Official figures show the centre accommodated 11,696 residency violators during the first six months of this year. Plane tickets to their homelands were issued to all of them.
“We are not a jail for visa violators,” Lt Gen Al Marri said. “It is a state-of-the-art facility, where people receive high-quality services in line with international standards. It is an important part of Dubai’s immigration enforcement system, while reflecting the emirate’s humanitarian approach.”
Deceived and stranded
He said many of those arriving at the centre had been deceived by fraudulent recruitment officers in their home countries after paying large sums of money for jobs that never existed.
Lt Gen Al Marri said. “They are victims of recruitment scams. Many paid money to agencies that promised employment before they travelled, only to discover there was no job waiting for them. That is one of the biggest challenges we face.”
He said awareness campaigns were helping to reduce the number of residency violators in Dubai.
“We work to resolve their cases, arrange travel documents and provide airline tickets so they can return home,” he said.
“All travel procedures and issued boarding passes are completed inside the centre before the violators are transferred to the airport.”
More than 322,232 meals have been provided since the start of the year, alongside 1,906 medical visits. Al Awir has also helped issue 4,568 travel documents for violators in co-operation with various consulates so far in 2026.
Maj Gen Ali Al Zaabi, assistant director general at GDRFA-Dubai, said the centre can accommodate between 1,300 and 1,800 people.
“Many violators come to us voluntarily asking for assistance,” he said. “During their stay, they are provided with temporary accommodation, meals, basic healthcare services and medication. It is a one-stop service centre to reduce time and effort for violators who couldn’t afford to go back home.”
Most residency violators stay for three to 10 days before leaving the UAE, although cases involving lost passports or missing identity documents can take longer.
“The biggest challenge is when people arrive without passports or any identification documents,” Maj Gen Al Zaabi added. “In those cases, we must co-ordinate with their embassies to issue new travel documents before they are able to leave the country.”
