RAK police crack down on massage parlours

A group of 58 Chinese women working at massage parlours have been detained by the Ras Al Khaimah Police for working without proper permits.

Police have temporarily closed one of the massage parlours and arrested a UAE national man who was caught by officers with a woman inside one of the dimly lit rooms.

Ras Al Khaimah has licenced more than 120 massage parlours in the past two years, including some in villages.

Civic authorities have said they recently received some 250 applications to open new parlours, but declined to issue licences because the authorities believe there was no need for them.

At least half of the women held visas that had been issued in other emirates. Most were on visitor visas and only a few of the workers had work permits.

The women will be held at Al Maamourah Prison while their cases are being processed by the immigration department. They are all likely to be deported.

Police investigations discovered the women move from one parlour to another seeking new customers, all of which suggests the business is run by an individual or one organisation. Sources from the industry said more than a thousand people are working in the industry, with some in the UAE illegally.

It was only a few years ago when massage parlours started opening in Ras Al Khaimah. Female employees were told by their boss not to leave the premises.

The parlours opened several entrances so customers could avoid coming into contact with each other.

Nevertheless, this did not generate the desired trade, so the women started touring local shopping malls and markets plying their trade.

Many people complained to police about the behaviour of the women, who would dress provocatively and exchange telephone numbers with men on the street. Some of the parlours have installed computers through which they email potential clients pictures of their female staff who, they say, are available to visit him in the privacy of his home.

New pictures of women are constantly being added and some, which have been seized by police, show them scantily clad.

Clients who request a woman to visit him at home are usually charged Dh150 an hour or Dh500 at night. At the parlour, the customer pays a standard Dh100 an hour rate.

Probe uncovers disturbing trend

• At least half of the women held visas that had been issued in other emirates.
• Most were on visitor visas.
• The women workers move from one parlour to another seeking new customers.
• The women tour local shopping malls and markets plying their trade.