31-year-old African woman jailed for attempting to travel on forged document

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

Dubai Criminal Court sentenced a 31-year-old African woman to 6 months in jail for attempting to travel to her home country with a forged travel document belonging to another girl. She will be deported after serving her jail term.

Details of the case date back to October 2021, when a passport officer at Dubai International Airport discovered that an African girl was attempting to leave the country with a forged document.

During interrogations, the officer said the girl presented an African travel document and an exit permit issued by the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship to travel to her home country.

However, upon checking the details in the system, it was found that the picture on the system differed from that on the travel document, so she was arrested and was handed over to the police.

On being questioned, she confessed that she had lost her passport and had resided in the UAE illegally because of which she incurred huge fines, which she could not pay.

She further added that an anonymous person helped her obtain a passport copy of another African girl whom she impersonated.