Dubai residents face massage cards menace daily

The on-call massage services that are brazenly offered by scores of business cards being dropped daily on cars remain a source of real nuisance to the residents in Dubai. 
Despite the inspection campaigns of the law-enforcement bodies on the shady activities among other things, the matter does not look likely to abate. 
The rampant and taunting illegal practices that are being seen in areas like International City and Satwa - to name a few - continue to annoy the public with many claiming that "not a day passes without having to take them off the cars or even flat doors".
Soliciting massage by those cards could well go wrong. Many men fell victims after they were tricked into going for massage dates by such adverts.
They were physically assaulted, robbed and even humiliated after being lured with massage offers. Suspects would usually post adverts about such services and use beautiful women's pictures as a bait. However, once in the suspects' flats, the men would be locked up, assaulted, undressed and filmed to be blackmailed for cash or revealing their bank card details. 
Individuals, who are caught distributing massage cards, face penalties, including jail and deportation, Dr Ali Humaid bin Khatim, counsellor, advocate -general and chief of naturalisation and residency prosecution, told Khaleej Times.
The advocate-general added that the Follow-up and Investigation Section of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners' Affairs, in cooperation with other official departments, carry out regular inspection campaigns and many violators are being caught.
Dr bin Khatim also revealed that the offences committed by those violators are often linked to other crimes.
"These massage card distributors could be in violation of the Labour Law by working for a third party (other than the sponsor) or in breach of the Foreigners' Entry and Residency Law by working on visit visas. Besides, the cards have obscene pictures and that is another type of offence."
As to the work and residence-related offences, it is the jurisdiction of the residency prosecution. 
For the other immoral offences and the infringement to the public decency, it is the field of the plenary prosecution.
"It is the public prosecution that investigates such criminal cases. The suspects, caught in such violations, face jail terms and will be deported," the advocate-general affirmed. 
He added that the Ministry of Emiratisation and Human Resources, in cooperation with the Follow-up and Investigation Section of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners' Affairs, carry out regular inspection campaigns and many violators of laws and regulations are being caught. 
Illegal competition to licensed spas
According to Emirati lawyer Abdul Moneim bin Suwaidan of Bin Suwaidan Firm for Advocates and Legal Counsels, distributing such cards can be seen as a public marketing for illegal and indecent activities. "Those individuals hold no licence to work in this field and have no respect to professional or hygiene standards. There is no idea as to who are their employers and sponsors. They have no identification to track them down for any complaint or in case of any problem," the lawyer pointed out, stressing on the need for the authorities concerned to watch out on those illegal businesses and conduct intensive inspection campaigns.
"However, we find those 'so-called centres' unfairly competing with the real massage parlours and spas located in shopping centres or hotels and resorts that are licensed and pay fees and taxes for the professional practice. Hence, they should not be left unpunished or taken lightly."  
"In addition, they are not complying with the regulation that strictly bans giving massage service to the opposite sex. Many illegal 'centres' turned out to be prostitution dens."  
Bin Suwaidan called for more stiff penalties on those offenders. He firmly recommended that such people get tracked down and deported administratively. "The licensing bodies should conduct intensive inspection campaigns and stop the widespread illegal businesses. Severe penalties and hefty fines should be imposed so that those so-called centres get shut down.
"My advice would be to avoid such services through these channels. The Dubai Courts heard many cases, in which Asian and African gangs targeted customers and assaulted and robbed them. Those gangs use it (massage offers) as a bait to lure men and then blackmail them."
Bin Suwaidan further said: "While the authorities fight those rampant offences, the public has to be careful and to opt to stay away from anything that does not seem right."
He concluded that he felt embarrassed in front of his family whenever he parked his car in some areas, like International City and Satwa, and returned to find several cards left on it.
Cards damage cars
Apart from the ugliness and vulgarity of the massage cards, the matter goes beyond that to reach the scale of a real material damage.
A 52-year-old Asian resident described the problem as a grave one. "Every day, we see Asians and Africans inserting the massage cards in the car window's rubber beading, which by time get damaged."
The IT professional added: "Still we find Asians inserting the cards in every car and all the times there are dirty pictures on display. The same individuals are doing it in the broad daylight several times on one day and the cards and numbers are increasing."
A 40-year-old Arab woman complained of how those cards obliged her to take her car to the auto workshop for maintenance several times. "The automatic control system of the front windows in my car got damaged several times after such papers slipped through and got stuck between the glass and the car door. It is very frustrating that I have to close the car windows manually and some times even that doesn't work.
"The window glass will go down while I am driving. So if it is raining, I will be drenched before I could pull over to close it manually. If it is hot, the AC won't function properly."
An Asian resident said that the individuals, who drop the cards on the cars, are also leaving them on the flats' doors.
"I just wonder how to stop them. It is a daily hassle. It is not a good sight for the family, especially the children."  
What makes the matter even worse is that the cards are increasing. 
"When you spot different cards with different numbers every day, it means that new people are joining the illegal and shady activities. I parked my car once to drop by a friend. It was a quick visit. When I came back, there were three to four cards on the car door," an Arab man said.
Criminals use massage cards to lure victims
Dubai Courts have looked into many cases of assault and robbery where victims were targeted in the same modus operandi.
In one case, four African women were accused of robbing an Asian man of Dh60,300 after holding him up against his will in their flat. The women teamed up as a criminal gang and lured men to their place with 'a massage date'. They were charged in at least two cases.
Men, caught in raids and proven to have had sex out of the wedlock with masseuses, were charged with illicit sex and were jailed and deported.
In another case, rivalry among Asian gangs led to the death of one gangster and serious injury to another Asian. The police conducted raids and arrested several people working in prostitution or running vice dens.
Why residents should be careful?
>Criminals use massage invitation as a bait to rob or blackmail those who try to use the services
>Distributors of massage cards could be violators of labour and residency laws, which is a threat to the security
>Obscene pictures on the massage cards could annoy families, especially children
>Illegal massage centres raise a threat to public health because of the lack of professional and hygiene standards
>It's impossible to track down them in case of anything goes wrong
> Such centres are unfair and illegal competition to legally-regulated and licensed spas and massage centres
mary@khaleejtimes.com
 

• UAE
• Dubai

Marie Nammour

mary@khaleejtimes.com