A number of massage parlours here have been turned into underground prostitution centres after the Economic Department cancelled all the commercial licenses of the working parlours.
Najeeb Al Shamsi, Director General of the department, said these parlours have been practicing their business illegally underground and the authorities had been alerted to it.
The Ras Al Khaimah Economic Department, in coordination with the Police, launched a crackdown against the prostitution centres, and the latest raids ended with the arrest of tens of Chinese women.
Al Shamsi said the main purpose of the massage parlours was prostitution, and they had brought hundreds of women, mainly from China, to work as prostitutes.
He added that the authorities had been investigating the activities of the massage parlours and concluded that they were actually prostitution centres and that immediate action should be taken against them.
Al Shamsi said the commercial licences of all the massage parlours have been cancelled and their owners instructed to close the businesses.
He added that the authorities were aware of the offences of the owners and monitored their reactions; in a single inspection tens of Chinese women were arrested.
The women were referred to the authorities for further investigation and would later to be given prison terms and deported from the UAE.
"The emirate has suffered a lot because of these massage parlours," Al Shamsi said.
