Ajman police to launch large-scale crackdown on illegal residents

Ajman: As many as 70 police inspectors will on January 5 start an extensive inspection of all areas of Ajman to look for people violating residency laws.

The announcement was made by Ajman Police Commander-in-Chief Brigadier General Ali Abdullah Alwan during a press meeting at the headquarters of Ajman Police last week.

The campaign will start off with 70 inspectors, but this number could be increased to 2,000 if needed.

The campaign will kick off on January 5. The final day of the campaign has not been announced yet. The campaign will run day and night every day in all areas of the emirate.

The inspection will target all sorts of buildings, including houses, apartments, commercial and industrial premises, labour accommodations, industrial areas, farms and any other places that might be used as shelters by illegal residents.

Police inspectors have been given permission by the prosecution to check the status of illegal resident, including absconding labourers and housemaids. Alwan pointed out that most absconded housemaids lived in apartments.

He explained that inspection teams have electronic devices that enable them to check the identity as residential status of the person right at the point of inspection. If the system shows that the person is an illegal resident, they will be arrested and deported.

He said that two units in the Ajman Central jail are allocated for illegal residents until they are tried and deported.

These units were previously used for women inmates before they were transferred to the new women’s jail.

Alwan stressed that illegal residents pose a threat to society and many of them were involved in criminal activities.

Illegal residents should go to the residency department and correct their status before the campaign starts, he said.

A number of families living in Ajman were also illegal residents, he pointed out.

“We are looking to those families from the angle of humanity, especially when some of them have children in schools. But they must amend their conditions, otherwise, the law will be applied on them and they will be deported,” he said.

The previous time such a campaign was carried out, it was done by the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs department in Ajman, but now illegal residents will be tracked down by Ajman police.

He stated that the level of satisfaction with the security in Ajman reached 96 per cent, according to police survey. “This is what brings about trust among the residents and citizens,” he said. Alwan pointed out that this campaign came as part of larger campaign launched by the ministry of interior to remove illegal residents from the state.

He said that the new movement needs the support of the media in order to achieve its goals, pointing out that media is a strategic partner of the police and the Interior Ministry.

He mentioned that around 30 illegal residents were nabbed Ajman Naturalisation and Foreign Affairs Department every day, apart from the 40 to 50 absconded or wanted people nabbed daily by the Criminal Investigation Department of Ajman police.

All necessary procedures will be carried out for the nabbed suspects, including temporary detention in Ajman, or in Al Wathba prison, until the time of their deportation.

The preparations for the campaign, in addition to other security issues, were discussed during a meeting held at Ajman police headquarters recently. The meeting was chaired by Alwan and attended by a number of senior police officers, including Brigadier Mohammad Abdullah Alwan, director general of the Ajman general directorate of residency and foreigners’ affairs department, Colonel Hilal Saeed Al Suwaidi, acting director of the Ajman general directorate of civil defence, Colonel Rashid Jassim, director general of the police operations department and Colonel Omar Mohammad Al Shamsi, general manager of resources and support services.