Dubai

Al Awir Deporation Jail

Status

In use

2026

Type: Immigration detention centre (Administrative)

Custodial Authority: Not Available

Management: Not Available

Detains: Undocumented migrants (administrative)

Capacity Reported population Deaths at facility
No Data
No Data
No Data
United Arab Emirates

2,700

Detained Asylum Seekers

1,377

Refugees

To country overview
FACILITY NAMES
Al Awir Deporation Jail

Alternative Names: Al Warsan Immigration Centre, Dubai Immigration Detention Centre

Location

Country: United Arab Emirates

City & Region: Dubai, Middle East

Contact Information
Al Rowaiyah Third - Dubai - United

MANAGEMENT & BUDGET

Center Status
Status
Year
In use
2026
Last documented use
2005
Facility type
Category
Type
Year
Administrative
Immigration detention centre
2005

DETAINEES

Categories of detainees

Undocumented migrants (administrative)

2005

SIZE & POPULATION

LENGTH OF DETENTION

OUTCOMES

CONDITIONS

CARCERAL INDICATORS

STAFF

SEGREGATION

CELLS

COMMUNAL SPACE & ACTIVITIES

HEALTH

MONITORING & ACCESS

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

NEWS & TESTIMONY

2026

From MRRORS (16 May 2026): "At Al Warsan Immigration Centre, Ali said he was stripped naked in front of other detainees and forced to perform sit-stand punishments around twenty times.
For Abbas, the treatment was even more brutal. As soon as he arrived at the Al Warsan facility, the police registered his name and took him inside. He was immediately forced to perform sit-stand punishments and to walk on his knees across a ladder. Later, officers removed all his clothes in front of eight other detainees and recorded a video of him. Abbas said security personnel hurled extremely abusive language towards him involving his mother, and he was electrocuted with a stun gun when he retaliated.
During his three days inside the Al Warsan facility, Abbas said he was given foul-smelling khubus bread to eat and salty sea water to drink. “It was very bad, you cannot eat and drink that,” he said. Detainees, he said, were crowded into small rooms, and forced to sleep on double-decker beds without pillows."


2026

"Pakistan has been trying to help end the war in Iran, but that effort is now creating problems with one of its longtime partners, the United Arab Emirates. The rich Persian Gulf country has started a large-scale expulsion of Pakistani workers, threatening to cut off a vital source of jobs for Pakistan. ...
"The Pakistani foreign ministry has denied that Pakistani citizens have been deported en masse and did not respond to questions about whether Shiites were singled out. The ministry’s spokesman, Tahir Andrabi, said the expulsions were of Pakistanis who had committed crimes in the Emirates. ...
"On April 13, Ali Hamza, 25, a security administrator for a major Emirati logistics company, said he was picked up at his office by a plainclothes officer and taken to the Al Awir detention center. He said he was deported to Pakistan on April 21. A dozen Pakistanis interviewed by the Times described similar experiences and requested anonymity because they hoped to recover money and assets left behind in the Emirates, or hoped to return."