DUBAI – More than 1,000 forged passports were seized in Dubai’s international airports this year, according to the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDFRA).
According to Khaleej Times, Aqil Ahmed Al Najjar, consultant of the Document Examination Centre at GDRFA Dubai, said the authority has been using the latest technology to detect new methods of forgery.
GDFRA Dubai said it had also spotted fake residence cards and licences for other countries.
“Those who came to the country through transit to travel to other countries without carrying a visit visa to their destination or by giving forged identity and residence cards were sent back to the country where they came from,” Al Najjar was quoted as saying by local media.
“The centre receives forged documents of multiple nationalities daily, but most of them are easy to detect,” AL Najjar said.
Ugandans in UAE
There are more than 30,000 Ugandans legally working and living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). More or less could be there illegally. UAE is one the key destinations for Ugandan workers that bring home trillions of Shillings every year.
In October 2018, a total of 154 Ugandans were deported from the UAE after protracted negotiations by the Ugandan embassy there. It was reported then that some of the deportees had committed offences such as overstay, working on visitors’ visas or working with non-sponsors, and others could have had fake travel documents.
Dubai is the busiest international airport in the world, with about 77 million passengers recorded in 2015.