UAE charity to buy flight tickets for stranded prisoners

DUBAI // Expatriate prisoners who have completed their sentences but do not have the money to fly back home will soon get a helping hand.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment today said it will pay for flight tickets under an agreement to be signed tomorrow by the charity organisation and Dubai's immigration authority, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs Dubai.

"We will arrange for their tickets to go back home," said a charity spokesperson. "It is for those who have completed their sentences and are only waiting for tickets. It is for men and women from all nationalities."

Details on the number of beneficiaries was not immediately available.

"The immigration will give us all details on how many nationalities and how many men and women tomorrow," he said.

This is the first time the organisation will be assisting prisoners on a large scale. It has previously assisted prisoners on a case-by-case basis. The charitable foundation was launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

pkannan@thenational.ae