On 24 and 25 June, the UAE authorities in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi carried out a massive campaign of arrests against about 700800- African migrant workers. The Rapid Intervention Forces (SWAT), the Criminal Investigation Department and the police stormed the workers’ apartments and rooms late at night and arrested and took them to Al Wathba prison in Abu Dhabi.
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor and ImpACT International for Human Rights Policies interviewed more than 100 migrant workers from various African countries, mostly Uganda, Cameroon and Nigeria, who had been arrested, imprisoned and deported. Most of whom who were in possession of documents confirming their legal right to be present in the UAE, with residency and work visas valid for months or years.