• Home
• /
• Crime

166 illegals, absconders rounded up

Interior Ministry personnel have arrested 166 illegal immigrants and residency law violators in three days. Of them, 58 were caught in Abu Dhabi, 72 in Al Ain and 36 in Sharjah, according to the Ministry of Interior (MoI).

The Follow Up and Foreigners Section in Abu Dhabi launched a one-day crackdown on offenders of residency law in the cities of Abu Dhabi and Bani Yas for a day following a tipoff on their presence in the areas.

The campaign resulted in the arrest of 58 illegal immigrants, who hail from Asian and African countries. They included two men who sneaked into the country illegally, 52 women who absconded from their sponsors and four other persons who sheltered a number of women, who were found to have been violating the law governing the entry and residency of foreigners.

In Al Ain, the section launched a two-day inspection campaign in the wake of information on the presence of a number of Asians who gathered in the evening in an industrial area. After investigation, policemen raided a building and rounded up 72 people who were not carrying any official documents with them. They included 37 who entered the country illegally, 33 who violated the entry and residency law, one person who was working with an employer other than his sponsor and the man who employed him. In Sharjah, same section conducted a crackdown for a day and rounded up 36 Asians for entering the country illegally, a Press release said.

“The inspection campaigns have been launched as part of the efforts being made by the Follow Up and Foreigners Section and affiliated divisions countrywide to curb the entry of illegal immigrants and violators of the residency law,” said Major-General Nasser bin Al Awadhi Al Menhali, Assistant Undersecretary for Naturalisation, Residency and Exit Affairs, Ministry of Interior.— news@khaleejtimes.com