During a recent podcast, former Dubai Police women’s prison director Brigadier Jameela Al Zaabi recalled cases of inmates who received help with housing and school costs, discreet schooling for children, and the pain of families divided by imprisonment during her work at the prison.
Families of inmates in Dubai could be considered for help with rent and children’s school fees when the household’s circumstances warranted it, according to Al Zaabi. The support is assessed individually, as it is not an automatic benefit for every family, with the stated aim of preventing a sentence from becoming a hardship for relatives outside prison.
Al Zaabi described the approach in ArabCast podcast interview with host Ahmed Al Zarouni. She offered a view of the practical and emotional work involved in keeping family ties intact, from protecting a child’s privacy at school to arranging a surprise reunion with parents.
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Brigadier Jameela Al Zaabi
She said a Humanitarian Care unit assesses an inmate’s needs from the time of admission. A file considers the family’s situation, including children at school, before a committee decides whether help with rent or fees was appropriate.
She said a committee could refuse assistance where it concluded that the circumstances had been deliberately created. “You are not here to punish his family; you are here to reform him so that he benefits his family, ”Al Zaabi stated, explaining the principle behind family support.
School without a label
Al Zaabi also recalled arrangements intended to let children of female inmates attend private school without being singled out. Under the arrangement, she described, children began their education path at around four.
Rather than use a school bus that might reveal where they lived, staff used a dedicated car. Nannies went with the children into school and carried their bags. “The car had neither police number plates nor a police logo.”Al Zaabi, on protecting the children’s privacy.
The former director said the intention was to ensure children did not feel different from their classmates because a parent was in prison.
The legal framework sets an important boundary for younger children. Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2024 permits an inmate to keep her newborn with her until the child reaches two, afterwards, the child is handed to a person entitled to custody or care, or placed in a care home if that is not possible. The mother must be told where the child is and allowed regular contact.
Uncertainty a sentence cannot solve
Al Zaabi recalled the case of a woman who transported drugs after being offered money, using an advance to pay rent before travelling to Dubai. She had left her daughter with a friend abroad and was sentenced to about 10 years, Al Zaabi said.
After the initial shock, the mother tried to contact the friend but found the phones disconnected. Following several years of efforts, diplomatic contacts facilitated by Dubai Police indicated that the friend had taken the girl to a children’s home.
That institution later closed and the children were moved elsewhere. “I do not want anything, I just want to know where my daughter is," Al Zaabi quoted the mother as saying.
Reunion after 14 years
In a separate case, Al Zaabi said that there were a woman serving a lengthy sentence had not seen her mother and father for about 14 years before entering prison.
Staff contacted the parents and brought them to the facility without telling their daughter. She was called before a manager, expecting to be told off, then saw her parents enter. “She became a child again in the embrace of her mother and father," Al Zaabi shared, recalling the surprise reunion.