Demands that minors be separated from inmates in Al Aweer prison

The social worker licensed by the Community Development Authority in Dubai, who supervises the events in Al Awir Prison, Badriya Al Mallouhi, called for the necessity of allocating a special section for female delinquents inside the central prison in Dubai (Al Awir), to prevent their mixing with other female prisoners, pointing out that there is no special section for minors in Al Awir Prison. And that delinquent girls are placed with older female prisoners, which affects the effectiveness of the social support programs provided to them, revealing the existence of a special section for male juveniles, away from the prisoners.

For his part, the Director of the Central Prison Administration in Dubai (Al Awir), Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Hakim Ahmed, attributed the failure to allocate a section for delinquent minors in the prison to the small number of girls detained there, indicating that Dubai does not stop any juvenile except within the narrowest limits.

In detail, Al-Mallouhi said that the absence of a special section for underage girls in Al-Awir Prison exposes them to detention in the adult female prison wards, and to acquiring negative and criminal habits – in some cases – despite the prison administration’s keenness to select special places for girls placed in the prison.

She stressed that it is necessary to have a special section for detained girls, and to assign a dedicated staff to deal with them, regardless of the number of juveniles in the prison, in order to protect the juvenile from any external influences, or friction with people who might incite negative behavior towards the juvenile, other than the hope of placing the juvenile in prison or Care center.

Al-Mallouhi explained that the purpose of detaining a juvenile is to rid him of criminal impurities, if those impurities are derived from his community, or from his family itself, as happens in some cases, which could defeat the goal completely, if minors meet with professional criminal prisoners.

She stated that the juvenile is usually placed in custody for a period of three months, after which the social worker submits his report to the judge regarding whether to continue placing the juvenile or release him, and it is up to the judge to make the appropriate decision, following up that in the second case the juvenile is detained with a prison sentence of one to three months, to be released. About him later.

Al-Mallouhi stressed that the purpose of arresting the juvenile is primarily social, with the aim of returning him to proper behavior and correcting his actions, pointing out that the social view of the juvenile is that he is a victim and not an accused or a criminal, which is what differs from the nature of the detention and its programs currently present in Al-Awir Prison.

For his part, the Director of the Central Prison Administration in Dubai (Al Awir), Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Hakim Ahmed, acknowledged that there is no special section for female delinquents, attributing the reason to the small number of them, as a girl is not placed in prison except in a few and rare cases.

He explained that the prison administration isolates the underage girl in a special room, and does not integrate her with other female prisoners, stressing the administration’s keenness to keep the minor accompanied by the social supervisor during the day, noting that there are no underage girls in Al Awir prison currently.

According to Al-Mallouhi, there are five juvenile homes in the country, affiliated with the Ministry of Social Affairs, to place delinquent juveniles, while in Dubai there is no care home designated for juveniles. Juveniles are placed in a special section for juveniles in Al-Awir Prison, while minors are placed in the women’s prison.

In addition, social workers emphasized that the security approach is completely different from the social approach in caring for juveniles, calling for the social approach to be the dominant approach in juvenile cases, as they are victims of society.

For his part, Director of the Social Protection Department at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Hussein Al-Shawab, said that juveniles in care homes do not come into contact with security personnel in any way, stressing that the role of the police is important in protecting the care home, and they are not allowed to interfere in the affairs of juveniles inside the home.

He pointed out that, even if the juvenile is released from the care home to a hospital for treatment, the prosecution, the court, etc., this is done in the company of the social researcher and the police, and the police officer is not allowed to deal directly with the juvenile or question him, but rather the requested person is conveyed to him through the social researcher.

Al-Shawab explained that this does not mean – at all – the marginalization of any role in caring for and protecting juveniles, except that police officers are not specialists in social care, and do not understand the psychological nature of the juvenile and his privacy, while juveniles are treated with extreme privacy in care homes, according to each case, And its causes. He stressed the importance of the security role, provided that it is not visible to the juvenile, and that the juvenile is not treated as an accused during the procedures, noting that care homes rely on open meetings, various activities, and careful monitoring of the juvenile’s actions, to form a mental picture of the nature of the juvenile and the care plan directed to him, after referring to his file.

Al-Shawab added that the presence of the juvenile in the home is completely different from his presence in prison, especially in terms of the security appearance and during the family’s visits to him, pointing out that it is necessary not to notify the family themselves that the juvenile is under arrest like other criminals.

He pointed out that care homes were established in order to keep juveniles away from negative influences, since young men and women at juvenile age pick up negative behavior from others, stressing the difficulty of placing this young age group with older prisoners, due to the habits that may infiltrate them as well as the possibility of them being exposed to harm.