Dubai Police: Harbouring of infiltrators will result in legal action

Dubai: Police have warned residents against harbouring or employing infiltrators and violators of the foreigners' entry and residency law for any reason.

Brigadier Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Director of Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department, urged home owners to verify the legal status of people residing in their homes and ensure they are staying in the country legally and have a valid residency permit.

Harbouring an infiltrator of violator will result in legal action, he said.

"[Harbouring] an infiltrator carries security, social and economic risks that threaten the community and the state," Brigadier Al Mansouri said.

He called on the public to step up their cooperation with security bodies by reporting infiltrators and violators, as this protects the society from all kinds of crimes.

According to Brig Al Mansouri, 22,173 infiltrators and violators in Dubai were arrested or surrendered to police in 2011, compared to 21,690 in 2010 and 45,549 in 2009.

Problem

Infiltration and illegal immigration is a problem faced by all countries, and this poses security, economic, social and political challenges that affect each country in a different way, he said.

"No matter what the reasons behind a person's illegal entry or residency, security bodies will work to combat this phenomenon and stop its grave consequences," Brigadier Al Mansouri added.

He also instructed police stations and all concerned departments to implement security programmes without leniency.

He instructed them to carry out inspections to ensure that workers in their areas are legal residents.

Brigadier Al Mansouri highlighted the issue of people working on farms as they often lack security awareness and need to be educated about the importance of reporting violators and not providing them a place to stay.

"Violators and infiltrators will not be able to stay in the country if they are not given help, work and shelter by other people," he added.

Awareness

Meanwhile, Dubai Police extended the security awareness programme for school children to include pre-schoolers.

The programme, launched by the Community Service Department, will be implemented in two kindergartens in Dubai in the first stage, to be later extended to include all 12 public pre-schools in Dubai.

The programme in its kindergarten version will target basic topics, such as traffic safety, respecting public property and protecting children from sexual harassment.

Information will be given to the children through an age-appropriate booklet titled Learn how to say no that teaches children how to deal with strangers.