400 workers sleeping in streets after eviction from Sharjah building

Sharjah: As many as 400 workers who were evicted from a residential building have appealed to authorities to allow them to enter the premises to collect their belongs. The building in Al Naba’ah area was evicted on Sunday following a court ruling in a case filed by the building’s new owner.

The appeal came after they spent two nights sleeping in the streets after being evicted from their building on Sunday at around 8 am. They claimed that they did not receive any notice before the eviction.

The building consists of nine floors with two four-room apartments on each floor.

The workers alleged that a property agent sub-let the units without contracts and he failed to notify the occupants about the change of ownership. The new owner of the building, who preferred not to be named, told Gulf News that the previous owner had financial problems which led to the sale of the building. The property agent should have informed the residents about change of ownership, he said. The new owner, however, said he himself went to the building and informed them of the change of ownership, warning them not to deal with the real estate agent.

However, Sharjah Municipality, in a statement to Gulf News, said the decision to evacuate was based on a court order. The municipality pointed out that it did not evacuate the building directly and without warning. The workers were notified that the building would be handed to the new owner. The warning was issued on May 22 and a notice was pasted on the building. The municipality also gave workers an additional week to evict. But they remained there, forcing the municipality to execute the court order, the statement said. The agent violated laws as workers are not allowed to live in that area, it added.

According to the workers that they paid rent for each room ranging from Dh1,700 to Dh2,500 per month.

The property agent, a Bangladeshi national, rented the building from the previous owner before sub-letting it to the workers. Now workers say he has switched off his mobile and disappeared after collecting the rent.

Many have been unable to find alternative place as their official documents, including passport and money are inside the building, they told Gulf News. All the residents — from Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh — are employed in construction industry.

“We just want our belongings and our passports,” said Adel Mahmoud, a construction worker.

On Sunday morning, the eviction order was executed by municipality inspectors in the presence of police.

The residents are seeking help from authorities, asking them permission to enter the building for only one hour to take their belongings, passports and ID documents. Since Sunday night they have been sleeping on the street or under the shed of a mosque. The workers said they had never seen any eviction notice in the building and were surprised by the eviction on Sunday. The court order came after the building was sold to a new owner who filed the court case, officials said. The workers had paid a monthly rent of Dh400 and Dh100 for electricity and Dh1,000 security deposit.