Families without proper documents targeted in clampdown on illegal residents

Police officers in Ajman will work alongside officials from the Ministry of Interior to carry out daily raids in residential, commercial and industrial areas to apprehend anyone found to be flouting the country’s residency laws by living and working in the emirate illegally.

AJMAN // Runaway maids, absconding workers and families who have lived in the country for years without the proper documents face being arrested and deported as part of a year-long campaign by Ajman police to clamp down on illegal residents.

Brigadier Ali Abdullah Alwan, commander in chief of Ajman Police, said officers will work alongside officials from the Ministry of Interior to carry out daily raids in residential, commercial and industrial areas to apprehend anyone found to be flouting the country’s residency laws by living and working in the emirate illegally.

“We want the inspectors to visit everywhere, from the streets to houses, farms, workshops, factories and shopping malls,” said Brig Alwan, who added the campaign would also target families as well as individuals.

“Most of the illegal residents were single men that had overstayed their working visas and single women, mostly former housemaids. There is also a sizable number of Asian families also staying in the country illegally.”

Brig Alwan said officers will target residential areas by knocking on doors and asking all members of a family for their residency documents.

Police have allocated 70 officers to carry out the inspections, although this number can be increased to as many as 2,000 security personnel if the need arises.

All raids would be carried out in line with the country’s laws and with the prior permission of the department of public prosecution in Ajman.

Facilities at Ajman’s central rehabilitation centre have been set aside to receive any illegal residents arrested during the raids. These include areas where officials from different consulates and embassies as well as sponsors can meet to process the necessary documents to allow a person to exit the country.

Brig Alwan said the campaign was essential as the number of illegal residents in Ajman was increasing daily, with CID officers making between 30 and 40 arrests. Most of the arrested immigrants had absconded from their employers and turned to crime.

He urged all illegal residents to turn themselves into the authorities before they are arrested. He also asked members of the public to report any illegal residents living in their neighbourhoods.

“I have confidence the police and immigration officials in the emirate would achieve their objective of eradicating the illegal stay phenomenon in the emirate,” said Brig Alwan.

A nationwide amnesty ran from December 2012 to February last year to give those living and working illegally a chance to leave the country and avoid fines, prosecution and deportation or make their status legal.

A total of 61,826 people took the opportunity to exit the country. That figure was significantly lower than 2007’s amnesty, when 341,958 illegal immigrants returned to their home countries from the UAE.

Anyone found to be living or working in the country illegally faces fines of Dh100 a day for visa offences and Dh25 a day for residency offences.

Once arrested they will first be detained at a police station before being referred to immigration. Once all their paperwork is completed and the relevant embassies and consulates are informed, the person is then deported.

The Ministry of Interior also levies a fine of Dh50,000 to any company or individual found to be employing illegal workers not on their sponsorship.