47 women among 384 held for illegal stay in Sharjah

Sharjah: Police arrested 384 people, including 47 women, in a campaign last months against those living illegally in Sharjah.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Sharjah Police, in cooperation with the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, carried out the campaign throughout January, and targeted industrial, commercial and residential areas in the city.

Brigadier Abdullah Mubarak Al Dukhan, Deputy Director of Sharjah Police, said that people were also arrested for illegally washing vehicles in streets, gambling, selling counterfeit and pornographic films, and distributing alcoholic beverages in industrial areas and bachelor accommodations. Other violations also included collecting rubbish and begging.

Complaints

"During the campaign, we received complaints that street vendors and unemployed men were harassing women in elevators in residential buildings. We also discovered that the owner of an auto-workshop allowed illegal residents to sleep there at night, before leaving in the early morning before the owner opened for business," said Brig Al Dukhan.

By focusing on the industrial areas, authorities were able to arrest a large number of people whose residency visas had expired. "Illegal residents are harmful to the society because they resort to dangerous ways to make a living.

"Some cook and sell food, which is harmful because it is cooked in unhygienic conditions. Others resort to a life of crime and sell alcohol in worker accommodations, as well as carrying out robberies," Brig Al Dukhan added.