Illegals use abandoned farm in Sharjah for exploiting maids

The Sharjah Police yesterday arrested a group of illegals who used an abandoned farm as a shelter to accommodate absconders and commit crimes.
Police said that they arrested a group of people who are using the farm located in Madam area to carry out illegal activities such sheltering runaway maids and exploiting them by forcing them to work part-time on an hourly basis.
Lt Col Mohammed Hamad Al-Tunaiji, head of the CID Department at the Central Region Police station, said that police detected the illegal activities when received a call from a woman saying some people were forcibly holding her in a closed room. She was, however, not able to give the room's location.
The CID team was immediately formed to handle the case. After a search and investigation, the team located the woman's location, in an abandoned farm located on the outskirts of Madam city.
After the legal procedures were completed, the team raided the farm where two Asian women were found accompanied by a group of men who were all living on the farm. They were illegals, absconders, and some were wanted by various police departments for various crimes.
During the interrogation and investigation it has been found that they were exploiting the maids, forcing them to work per hourly wage and taking away their earnings on a daily basis.
On interrogating the maids, the police found out that a financial dispute between them and the captors prompting one of them to contact the police, claiming that she was a victim abducted by a group of men.
Based on their confession, they were all referred to public prosecution.
Sharjah Police have warned farm and home owners of the misuse of their premises, especially of abandoned homes located on the outskirts of cities by illegal workers, who use it as a shelter to commit crimes. The police have asked the owners to monitor their property and keep it sealed to prevent strangers entering.
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com

• Sharjah