Hundreds of illegal migrants caught in UAE raids

Hundreds of illegal migrants have been arrested across the UAE in a series of operations as part of a crackdown campaign, daily newspaper The National reported on Monday.

Now Maj Gen Nasser Al Awadi Al Menhali, assistant undersecretary for naturalisation, residency and ports affairs at the Ministry of Interior is calling on people to report further residency violations, saying they posed a ‘security threat, the report added.

Government officials captured 355 illegal residents in the UAE. Of these  96 were in Al Ain, 53 in Ajman, 40 in Ras Al Khaimah and in Abu Dhabi there were 166 people caught.

Of the latter 116 were men and 50 women who were said to be running away from their sponsors the report added.

In Al Ain 14 of those caught had run away from sponsors, while this figure rises to 19 in the smallest emirate of Ajman.

The report said those caught were from Africa and Asia, but did not give more precise detail.