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29 March 2024

Is the Dubai bachelor responsible for crime?

Published
By Muna Ahmed

One should not link bachelors’ accommodations in residential areas to the increase in crime level, a top official in Dubai Police CID said.
 
Speaking to Emirates24|7, he said that these workers have their jobs to do and they are not in their accommodations all the time.
 
“These bachelors are workers in many companies. They have their own responsibilities and duties to do. They are not specialised criminals roaming in residential areas. However, many families living in these areas feel unsafe living next to large number or workers. In most of the cases, they are annoyed by the workers staring at them or looking into their houses. They mind the look, not any other acts by them.”
 
According to Dubai Municipality, about 26,000 residency violations were recorded in Dubai last year.
 
Residency violations recorded in 2010 related to 42 abandoned houses; 196 sharing accommodation; 29 houses obstructing general view of the neighbourhood; 771 illegal additions to the main buildings; and 103 houses being used for purposes other than what they were built for.
 
Another Dubai Police official said that in some cases, there have been serious and alarming crimes due to this problem.
 
“In one case, we busted a villa in Al Rashidiya area in Dubai which was used as workers accommodation. There, we found huge stock of alcohol. In a separate case, we found an Asian man raping two housemaids. When investigating these housemaids, they said that they ran away from their sponsors, and this man promised to offer them part time job with more money. After that, he locked them up in that house, and he was forcing them into prostitution by letting men inside the room. These women were living on one meal a day, and were tied to a bed and had their eyes covered.”
 
However, the municipality said crime is associated in such cases.
 
Omar Abdullah, Head of Building Control Department, Dubai Municipality, told Emirates24|7 that this is an alarming problem because it affects the safety and security of families. “A lot of criminal activities are also linked to such areas," he said.
 
While there has been an increase in the total number of violations recorded, which hit 26,000 in 2010, 474 cases were of bachelors living in residential areas.
 
“We are facing serious problems because of this issue. Many nationals who moved to new residential areas in the emirate have rented their houses to bachelors. This needs a quick solution,” he added.
 
"The main problem we face currently is bachelors renting out villas and more than one family sharing one villa," he said. With multiple families, come problems such as multiple kitchens which will be carved out of the original space illegally putting their lives at risk, he added.
 
"To curb such practices, Dubai Municipality has adopted measures in cooperation with Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), wherein power and water are cut to such premises," he said.