Dubai: The Investigations Department of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) Dubai caught 4,935 illegals in 181 inspections during the first eight months of this year.

Of the 4,935 illegals caught in inspection campaigns, 4,336 were males and 599 were females.

The numbers were revealed by Colonel Khalaf Ahmad Al Gaith, Assistant to the General Director for follow-up on illegal residents and foreigners at the GDRFA-Dubai, at a press conference attended by Major General Mohammad Ahmad Al Merri, Director of the GDRFA Dubai.

Col Al Gaith said that they have widened the scope of their inspection campaign and have reached areas that are far from the city’s hub, such as Al Marmoum and Marqab, “We will not tolerate areas of Dubai becoming areas where illegals are concentrated. The main goal behind sending inspection patrols is to create a sense of security in the community.”

The investigations department’s deportation section has also received a total of 12,471 illegals — 8,858 males and 3,613 females — from other departments in the UAE such as the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and all the other emirates, the Ministry of Labour, Dubai Police and those deported on court orders.

The department received 84 reports from the public through Amer hotline. “If any of the public has information that can help us with our work, they can call Amer service on 8005111 and report it,” Col Al Gaith said.

There were 580 criminal reports handled by the department. The top criminal offences by illegals was working for another sponsor with 271 instances, followed by staying illegally in the country with 117 cases, forgery of official documents with 116 cases and employing workers that are not on your sponsorship with 79 cases.

Col Al Ghaith said that the numbers of illegals caught has gone down, because most employers refuse to employ illegals. “This is thanks to the many awareness campaigns that we have conducted in the previous years that targeted owners of establishments. In these eight months, the awarness campaigns have reached 1,002 establishments in Dubai.”

The Establishment inspection section of the investigation department also carried out inspections in 2,894 establishments in Dubai — 2,206 in the Deira area and 688 in Bur Dubai. In those inspections, 175 illegals were caught, of which 124 were female and 51 were males.

Fifteen of these inspections were joint efforts between the department and other government bodies, such as Dubai Municipality, the Ministry of Labour, Dubai Free Zone and the Department of Economic Development.

“Sometimes our inspectors go to multiple establishments — six or seven in a row — and find no illegals, which is a great indicator that the awareness campaigns have worked,” Col Al Gaith said.

The Document Verification Department verified 26,384 passports during the last eight months, of which 605 were found to be forged. “Any passport or document that we suspect of being forged is sent to this department.” he said.

The department held 55 workshops and courses that benefited 745 employees across the GDRFA, Dubai. “These employees are the country’s defence line.”