20 Asians arrested in crackdown on illegals
Immigration squads in Abu Dhabi rounded up 20 Asians who were found to be staying illegally in the country. a source at the Minis try of Interior said.
The source said the arrests were made during surprise raids on a number of residential buildings in the capital, carried out as part of an ongoing campaign to crack down on illegal aliens stayign and working in the country.
All the arrested were referred to the authorities concerned, for legal action.
The raids were conducted by a team from the Follow-up and Investigation Department, in cooperation with teams from other source said that the raids, conducted under the directions of Lt-General Dr Saeed Al Badi, Minister of Interior, and Major-Gereral Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, would be intensified in the next days ot stamp out illegal immigrants.
So far, in a matter of three weeks, more than 100 persons found violating the residency laws, have been arrested by the Naturalisation and Residence Department.
According to the source, most of those arrested during the raids, were wome found working as housemaids, who failed to take advantage ot the general four-month amnesty offered by the government in January this year, despite several warnings issued by the authorities to such illegal workers. An estimated 300.000 aliens had left the country availing of the amnesty offer.
A comprehensive plan has been drawn up to carry out intensified raids 24 hours a day, in coordination with the authorities concerned.
