Beit Al Khair clears debts of UAE national prisoners

DUBAI — Beit Al Khair, a Dubai-based charity association has paid up to Dh10,000 against the debts of 20 UAE national prisoners who were recently freed on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.

By Lina Abdul Rahman

Published: Sun 17 Oct 2004, 12:41 PM

Last updated: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 2:41 PM

Mohammed Bakkar bin Haidar, General Manager of the Association told Khaleej Times that the holy month of Ramadan is the month of approaching and seeking God's forgiveness from all the sins committed.

“We have freed and paid the debts of 20 UAE prisoners who had debts equivalent to Dh10,000 and below. All individuals are prone to making mistakes, and prisoners are normal human beings who fall in the trap of committing mistakes and I guess they learned from their harsh experience in the prison.”

Bin Haidar noted that the families of the released inmates are among those benefiting from the association's monthly aid programme .

Bakkar Bin Haidar explained that the main objective of paying the debts of the prisoners and hence guarantee them freedom is to bring happiness to their families who felt that they are lonely and needed the presence of their dear ones during this holy month.

“A huge amount of money is being spent by us for supporting 6,400 poor families who are registered with the association and who receive regular aid since they were proved to be in real need and are not earning a good income as per our case studies about them,” he said.

About he reason for specifying a ceiling of Dh10,000 for the payment of a prisoner's debts, he said: “We chose to pay Dh10,000 and below as we cannot afford paying debts with higher values. By determining to pay the debts up to Dh10,000, we can secure release for more prisoners, while if we choose to repay the debts worth huge amounts, the number of prisoners to be released is reduced, given the fact that we are a charity organisation and we work within a specific budget.”

“We are endeavouring to alleviate the pain and sufferings of the needy and the prison inmates families by providing them with financial support to purchase every day's necessities, especially during Ramadan and Eid,” he said. “By getting the parents of various orphan children released, we are trying to make them feel the spirit of Ramadan as well as the value of family gathering at this special time.”