Sharjah officials evict 13,000 single men from family neighbourhoods

More than 3,000 inspections have been carried out in villa districts and residential towers

The Qadisiya area of Sharjah has many older buildings.

Shamshu Deen, from Afghanistan, is owner of Al Sharqan bakery in the Qadisiya area of Sharjah.

The Qadisiya area of Sharjah, where government officials will look at the prevalence of single men following complaints about unruly behaviour from nearby families. All photos Pawan Singh / The National

The Qadisiya area of Sharjah, where government officials will look at the prevalence of single men following complaints about unruly behaviour from nearby families.

The Qadisiya area of Sharjah, where government officials will look at the prevalence of single men following complaints about unruly behaviour from nearby families.

Khayber Khan, a taxi driver from Pakistan who lives in Qadisiya.

A boy pictured outside his home in Qadisiya on Monday.

The Qadisiya area of Sharjah, where government officials will look at the prevalence of single men following complaints about unruly behaviour from nearby families.

Khayber Khan, from Pakistan, who works as a taxi driver in Al Qadisiya in Sharjah. Pawan Singh / The National

Children walk through the streets in the Qadisiya area of Sharjah.

People go about their daily routine in the Qadisiya area of Sharjah.

Police and municipal workers have evicted 13,000 single men from family neighbourhoods in Sharjah since September 2020.

Officials began clearing out Al Qadisiya and other residential areas following a call from an Emirati woman to a local radio station.

The Direct Line (Al Khat Al Mubasher) is a platform for Sharjah residents to share concerns with government officials.

Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah and a regular listener of the show, heard the woman’s concerns and issued a directive to remove single male residents – typically living in illegally divided villas – from Sharjah’s family neighbourhoods.

Since then, municipality inspectors, police officers, employees from the Civil Defence and Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority have conducted checks and issued eviction notices to illegal tenants and bachelors.

Electricity and water supply has been cut off for people who share houses.

“Inspections were expanded to include residential towers in several areas of the emirate, during which many irregularities were detected,” said Thabet Al Traifi, head of Sharjah Municipality.

“So far, we have carried out 3,000 inspections that resulted in the eviction of 13,000 illegal tenants and bachelors from several family districts in the emirate including Maysaloon, Al Qadisiya, and Al Nasserya.”

Inspections would continue, he said, as it was important to stop overcrowding in houses, especially during the pandemic.

Mr Al Traifi urged the public to call 993 and report illegal tenants in family neighbourhoods.