GCC Inmates Week: Emotional Family Reunion For Prisoners

Around 16 prisoners were reunited with their families on Wednesday as part of an Open Day during the fifth GCC Inmates’ Week that ends on December 30. The weeklong event, which began on December 25 is being held under the slogan “Together to Achieve Reform”.

The prisoners, many of whom who had only seen their families through a glass panel for years, were being rewarded by Sharjah Punitive and Correctional Establishment for their good behaviour and also being encouraged to be good citizens after their release.

The reunion was organised by Sharjah Police, Air Arabia, which offered free tickets for families, and Emirates Palace, which provided free accommodation and meals to the families.

A surprise element of the event was that the inmates were only informed of the meeting with their families and not about their presence at a dinner organised for the inmates. When the inmates walked through to the dining hall, they were greeted by cries of joy from their waiting families, including spouses and children.

“Emotions were raw as many of them had not seen each other for a long time,” Lieutenant-Colonel Ahmad Abdul Aziz Al Shail, chief of the correctional section and director of services, told Gulf News.

All police officers and jail wardens were dressed in civilian clothes for the occasion.

Boosting self-esteem

Lt-Col Al Shail said the main aim of the Open Day was to bring families together and help inmates focus on acceptance, support and reconciliation.

“It basically boosts the self-esteem of the inmates when they see their family and friends visit them on this day, and upon release, they work hard at doing something meaningful with their lives, because they know the importance of family.”

Three male inmates, of Nigerian nationality, declared that they were going to embrace Islam during the Inmates Week.

The Nigerian inmates were incarcerated on drug charges and their families came from Nigeria to meet them.

A number of officials from Arab and foreign diplomatic missions attended the event and praised the initiative organised by the Sharjah institution.

Dr Alexander A. Balanutsa, head of the Consulate of Ukraine, told Gulf News that he had thanked the UAE government, especially Sharjah Police, for such events which enable them meet their citizens and speak to them with no barriers. “We are here to help our citizens … [and we] thank Sharjah Police for their initiative,” he said.

Dr Balanutsa narrated the incident of a couple from Ukraine who came to the UAE on a visit and they had been asked to bring into the country a kidney medicine which they were not aware was listed in the prohibited material list. They were arrested at the airport on the charge of carrying banned drugs.

“I will do my best to help the couple,” said Dr Balanutsa. The couple have a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter back in Ukraine who is living with her grandmother.

The couple were seen in tears, as they sat with their diplomatic mission’s official seeking help to get out of jail.

Abdul Raheem Rahali, consul-general of Morocco, told Gulf News that he was happy to attend the unusual event. ”I started my work in the UAE only two months ago and I have never seen such an event being held in other countries which helps inmates to reform and start a new life.”

Two Moroccan female inmates also met their families during the event.

One of them is in jail on the charge of adultery and the other had tried to commit suicide while in jail and both told Gulf News that meeting their families had opened their eyes. They said they would never indulge in anything criminal again.

A.M.A, a male inmate who is in jail on drug charges, said he had never imagined the day when he would see his family again, with tears in their eyes.

He was overcome with emotion to see his wife and children after one-and-a-half years.

His wife said: “They brought us from Oman. When they rang me [to invite me here], I burst into tears.”

Brigadier Saif Ziri Al Shamsi, Commander — in-Chief of Sharjah Police, stressed the importance of maintaining family bonds.

Colonel Khalifa Mohammad Al Merri, director of the Sharjah Punitive and Correctional Establishment, told Gulf News that the inmates’ programmes are funded in part through a partnership between Sharjah Police and Sharjah Charity Association and the Farj Fund.

In Sharjah, 22 inmates were released during the fifth GCC Inmates Week, after the Sharjah Charity association and Farj Fund paid off their debt.

 

Sultan pardons 180 prisoners

His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, on Sunday pardoned 180 inmates of various nationalities at the Sharjah Punitive and Correctional Establishment during the fifth Unified Gulf Inmates Week.

The pardoned inmates had met the conditions of amnesty and demonstrated good conduct while serving their jail terms.

Dr Shaikh Sultan’s gesture comes in support of efforts by the Ministry of Interior to rehabilitate inmates and reintegrate them into mainstream society.

The move aims to help the pardoned prisoners reunite with their families and resume normal life in society.

source : gulfnews