Armed fights among youth worry families

Authorities in Sharjah and Ajman have already started addressing the issue following several complaints.

In Ajman, the municipality and the police are taking action against the outlets that sell knives, sticks, swords and other sharp tools that are used by teen gangs. Police are monitoring their sales and say they are planning a mechanism to monitor errant youth.

This action follows the Ministry of Interior’s efforts to prepare a draft law to regulate the import and export of such weapons in coordination by law enforcement authorities across the country.

Colonel Majid Salim, Director of the Criminal and Search Department at the Ajman Municipality, said the matter has been discussed with educators and sociologists who have agreed that this issue requires intensive efforts. There is a need to control the sale of the weapons and intensive police inspection campaigns are required to seize them from teenagers and criminals.

‘‘Legislative authorities must issue laws that include tough penalties and ban the use and spread of the weapons. Schools and parents have an important role to play to stem the dangerous menace,” he said.

Salim bin Jasim who lives at Al Jarf in Ajman said many incidents of armed fighting by groups of youth have taken place in his neighbourhood. Some of them were reported to the police and some others were solved amicably between the families of the children involved. In all these, the fighting kids used big knives, kitchen knives, swords, Taser guns and wooden sticks.

“This is a new trend in our society. It’s against the culture, tradition and religion of UAE nationals. It affects security and safety in the society and also the peaceful life that we enjoy in our home country,” he said.

Khalid Al Hanouri, another UAE national, said it cannot be considered a serious problem, but if it is ignored, it would adversely affect the society. “The teens should be provided with awareness that these acts are considered killing or attempts to kill and assault in law and they can lead to jail or even death penalty,” Al Hanouri said.

“They should also understand that hitting the face or any part of the body of someone is considered an assault which may also lead to a jail term. Hefty fines should be imposed on the outlets that sell the sharp-edged weapons to young children,” he added.

Fayed Musrsi, Math teacher of a public school in Ajman, said several incidents of students fighting with each other using sharp weapons after school hours have happened. Their parents were called in and the students involved were punished by the school management. They have been warned against carrying such weapons or repeating the acts.

Mysera Mubarak, high school student in Ajman, said in his school last week, some students beat up the canteen man with sticks for refusing to give them food and other stuffs they demanded. The victim was taken to Khalifa Hospital after the assault. He later reported the matter to the Al Numaia police station.

Alyas Amin, owner of a shop at Umm Al Quwain that display swords, said, “We sell swords as a souvenir or heritage gift. Our swords and knives are not very sharp to cause injury. We don’t sell such sharp weapons to children, who could use them to harm each other.”

Police action

Colonel Majid Salim said the Ajman Police during its inspections in February, arrested 21 young people and seized a large number of weapons from them. They were made to sign an undertaking that they would not repeat the act. The inspection campaign is still continuing.

A top officer of the Sharjah Police said patrolling has been intensified in various parts of the emirate to monitor youth and control the sale of sharp weapons. “The patrols would stop and question groups of youth who loiter on streets till late in the night,” he said.

“More than 50 juveniles involved in fighting using swords and knives were arrested from various parts of the emirate last year. All of them were aged between 12 and 16 and sentenced to one-week terms in the Juvenile Centre.”

In one incident last year, five UAE youths were injured in a clash between two groups in Al Riffa area of Sharjah. In another, 10 youths armed with sticks, knives and swords fought a pitched battle on the street. Two of them suffered serious injuries and three others suffered minor injuries and were admitted in the same hospital, the officer said.

afkarali@khaleejtimes.com