Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - Monday, September 23rd 2013 [ME NewsWire]
Faraj Fund pays debts and provides aid of AED 45 million
Donators praise fund’s humanitarian role in helping inmates and their families
Major General Nasser Lakhrebani Al Nuaimi, Secretary General of the Office of HH Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and Chairman of Faraj Fund, announced that the Faraj Fund has contributed to the release of 2,085 prisoners, including 105 Emiratis. This figure is calculated from the fund’s foundation in 2009 to August 2013 (50 months). The fund has helped 264 inmate families, including 259 Emirati families during last year and the first eight months of 2013 (20 months).
Major General Al Nuaimi said: “The total financial aid offered by the charity fund to help insolvent inmates at the Punitive & Correctional Establishments at the Ministry of Interior was AED 45,482,229. A total of AED 44,734,729 was allotted to pay the prisoner’s civil debts and the travel tickets for those who were deported. The inmates’ families received AED 747,500.”
UAE citizens and supporting national and charity institutions praised the Faraj Fund’s humanitarian role of settling civil financial cases for inmates and providing aid to their families around the year. They stressed the importance of the donations offered by philanthropists in helping inmates and their families.
Humanitarian Motive
Major General Al Nuaimi said: “Troubled inmates and their respective families need increasing support based on humanitarian motives in the first place. The Faraj Fund has prepared a plan to increase visits to the inmates’ families to check their condition and provide them with financial and tangible aid. It also enhances cooperation and collaboration with different societies, institutions, and sectors as well as merchants and philanthropists.”
He continued, “The Faraj Fund will continue its humanitarian role by looking into applications to identify eligible inmates, in order to formulate lists with their names, so they can receive aid regarding unsettled cases. The fund’s goal is to guarantee a decent life for those people and their families.”
The Secretary General added: “We should continue to empower social cooperation and the spirit of solidarity in line with the teachings of our true religion in order to guarantee a decent life for the families of inmates and contribute to paying any debts they have as quickly as possible.”
Paid debts
Brigadier Mohammed Rashid bin Kasheem Al Shamesi, Vice Chairman of the Faraj Fund, gave detailed statistics on debts paid by the fund stating, “During the first eight months of 2013, we helped release 561 prisoners, including 17 Emiratis. Additionally, we helped 137 families, including 134 Emirati families. The total amount paid was AED 10,593,340, including AED 9,876,459 for the debts of 114 inmates and AED 426,381 to buy travel tickets for 447 deported inmates. Moreover, AED 290,500 was paid to assist the families of the inmates.”
He added: “Last year in 2012, the Faraj Fund helped release 1,190 prisoners, which included 23 Emiratis, and helped 127 families, including 125 Emirati families. A total of AED 16,543,364 including AED 14,858,164 was spent to pay debts of 143 inmates. A sum of AED 228,200 to buy travel tickets for 1,047 deported inmates, in addition to AED 457,000 to help inmates’ families.”
Brigadier Al Shamesi said: “In the years 2009, 2010, and 2011, financial aid to families was less than it was in the years following; financial aid during those years focused on debts and travel tickets. The Faraj Fund was in its early stages, and later we created a database and expanded the financial aid for inmates and their families.”
Providing more details about the statistics, Brigadier Al Shamesi said: “In 2011, the fund helped release 264 inmates from their financial burdens, including 64 Emiratis, with a total aid of AED 16,245,117, including AED 16,017,287 to pay the debts of 76 inmates and AED 227,830 to buy travel tickets for 188 inmates set to be deported.
In 2010 and the last six months of 2009, the fund helped release 70 inmates, paying AED 2,100,408 for their debts, including AED 1,009,672 in 2010 for 37 inmates and AED 1,090,736 for 33 inmates in 2009.”
Social Goals
Brigadier Al Shamesi said: “According to its charter, which includes 11 goals, the Faraj Fund aims to empower the spirit of social cooperation and solidarity in line with Islam, as well as highlight the modern concepts of the Punitive & Correctional Establishments, guarantee decent lives for the inmates’ families, settle financial cases, and pay the debts of inmates.”
He concluded: “The Faraj Fund also aims to pay the amount necessary to help insolvent inmates and their families, in addition to blood money amounts. Furthermore, the fund aims to enhance cooperation and solidarity with charities and concerned entities, help pay court and legal fees for insolvent inmates, pay health care costs, and provide travel tickets for foreign inmates who are set to be deported.”
Donators Pay Tributes
UAE citizens and national and charity institutions supporting the Faraj Fund praised the efforts made by the UAE government, represented by the Ministry of Interior, through its continuous generosity and humanitarian initiatives that help relieve insolvent inmates and their families from their suffering.
Humanitarian Participation
In this regard, Hassan Abdullah Ismaik, Managing Director and CEO of Arabtec Holding, one of the leading institutes supporting the Faraj Fund, praised the fund’s efforts. He said: “The Ministry of Interior did well when it founded a fund to care for inmates at the Punitive & Correctional Establishments and their families. It is a noble humanitarian initiative in which the Ministry of Interior shared the rewards of charitable work by calling on all society sectors and institutions to participate.”
He added: “As always Arabtec supported the Faraj Fund’s campaign during the Holy Month of Ramadan. It aimed to provide aid and help the targeted categories of inmates at the Punitive & Correctional Establishments, in order to help release them in this holy month.”
Ismaik continued: “Our donations for this humanitarian initiative is our top duty; it is a debt we have to pay and the least we can give to express our gratitude to our country and our wise leadership. Supporting such campaigns demonstrates our commitment to the leading position of our homeland in carrying out humanitarian acts around the world. We, at Arabtec Holding, are part of this flourishing, developed local society in the UAE and the other countries where we work. We strive to be a model in social development for all private sector companies.”
The Managing Director and CEO of Arabtec Holding called upon all private sector institutions to gain the honor of contributing to the humanitarian initiative, “In order to empower the culture of giving and nobility that was deeply rooted by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God have mercy upon his soul, which became a cresset that leads our country, its leadership and society.”
An Official Channel
For his part, Abdeen Taher Al Awadi, General Manager of the Beit Al Khair Society, lauded the efforts and initiatives of the Faraj Fund in communicating the urgent issues to the Beit Al Khair Society administration that placed inmates’ families regardless of their status on the list of targeted families for assistance. Moreover, the Beit Al Khair Society is trying to pay the debts of insolvent inmates so that they can be released to return home to their families.
Al Awadi said that the Faraj Fund of the Ministry of Interior is a social and legal official channel to support various personal and institutional initiatives to take account of the humanitarian conditions of the inmates of the Punitive and Correctional Establishments and their families. He also stressed the role of the fund in coordinating and unifying the efforts to help this group of people.
“The fund embodies the modern concepts of the role of Punitive and Correctional Establishments to ensure a decent life for the inmates’ families, settle outstanding financial issues between the inmate and the prosecutor, and pay the debts of insolvent inmates,” added Al Awadi.
He noted that the Faraj Fund endeavors to finalize cooperation agreements with charities in the country, with a view to unify efforts to help needy prisoners and their families. This ensures providing financial assistance to eligible inmates and their families, in accordance with the applicable rules. Moreover, he called on philanthropists and companies operating in the nation to support such initiatives.
In parallel, the General Manager of the Beit Al Khair Society praised the media’s efforts of publishing the appeals of the inmates’ families, as well as the stories of their suffering. The media also appeals to philanthropists to assist by explaining the humanitarian conditions that led to the prisoner's financial and social problems with the aim of resolving their financial issues and releasing them.
He also noted that Beit Al Khair’s board of directors responded to numerous calls and cooperated with the fund in 2012 to release 11 prisoners, and help 125 Emirati and Gulf families suffering financially as a result of their breadwinners’ incarceration in the country. Notably, the amounts spent by the society on these cases amounted to AED 3,452,497.
A Symbol of Togetherness
Abdullah Al Shamsi, Senior Manager of Social Relations at the Corporate Communications Department in the Abu Dhabi National Islamic Finance Company (ADNIF), one of the leading banking institutions supporting the Faraj Fund, highlighted that the bank strongly supports the Faraj Fund as it is one of the charitable humanitarian projects in the State.
He described the Faraj Fund as a symbol of solidarity and cooperation among local community members, and a landmark on the map of foreign humanitarian work.
“The administration of the Abu Dhabi National Islamic Finance Company (ADNIF) annually dedicates contributions to the fund from zakah funds that are allocated for humanitarian projects in the country. The Faraj Fund concept is an outstanding humanitarian initiative sponsored by the Ministry of Interior to settle the debts of insolvent inmates and help their families; this is a focal point for the Abu Dhabi National Islamic Finance Company (ADNIF),” explained Al Shamsi.
Al Shamsi urged all institutions that can support such humanitarian projects to provide charitable assistance in order to develop communities, and prevent social disintegration.
A National Duty
On the same note, Abdul Rahim Mohammed Belghuzouz Al Zarouni commended the efforts and the humanitarian role of the charitable fund taking care of the inmates of the Punitive and Correctional Establishments by providing assistance to insolvent inmates and distressed families throughout the year.
“Contributing to the Faraj Fund is a national duty for every citizen and resident benefitting from the generosity of this country that bestows its good will upon everyone. Helping insolvent inmates and meeting the needs of their families are humanitarian goals, as important as the role of charities that offer primary care to the needy and the destitute in poor countries. The Faraj Fund provides care for this category, and gives them the opportunity to return to their communities to have a new beginning. This ensures for them and their families a decent and stable life after they return home equipped with new behaviors and the ability to avoid actions that led them to prison,” pointed out Al Zarouni.
A Sense of Responsibility
“The Faraj Fund assumes a very important role in drawing a smile on the face of insolvent inmates, and their families in need, through settling their financial issues and releasing them,” said a donator who spoke on condition of anonymity.
She thanked the UAE Government, represented by the Ministry of Interior, to provide a decent life for insolvent inmates and their families. She said that the Faraj Fund a spring flowing with sense of responsibility towards humanitarian work, which is a civilized behavior in developing communities.
Annual Increase of the Faraj Fund’s Performance Index
36% increase in the number of released inmates in 2012 compared to 2009
Major General Nasser Lakhrebani Al Nuaimi, Secretary General of the Office of HH Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Faraj Fund, revealed that the annual performance index of the Faraj Fund helping to release insolvent inmates witnessed an increase, as compared to the first year of its establishment in 2009.
He also stated that the number of insolvent inmates released annually increased, adding that in the first eight months of the current year (2013) the percentage increased to 17%, while 2012 was marked with a remarkable increase in the number of inmates released by 36%. The percentage of released inmates increased by 8% and 1.2% in 2011 and 2010 respectively, compared with 2009, which saw the launch of the fund’s activities.
He highlighted the increase of 1% in the percentage of families receiving financial assistance in the first eight months of the current year (2013) in comparison with 2012. He also stressed the increase of the number of inmates released and the assistance provided to the families of the inmates at the end of the year.
“The Faraj Fund will continue to launch social and humanitarian programs that are aimed to help insolvent inmates and their families at the State level,” affirmed Al Nuaimi.
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Photo Caption:
Photo1: Major General Nasser Al Nuaimi
Photo2: Hassan Abdullah Al Samik
Photo3: Abdeen Al Awadi
Photo4: Abdullah Al Shamsi
Photo5: The Faraj Funds’ Awareness-raising brochure
Photo6: An Expressive Image Showing a Prisoner Waiting for Relief
The Arabic-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the Arabic-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.
Contacts
The UAE Minister of Interior's General Secretariat, Tactical Affairs and Security Media Department
Abu Dhabi Police GHQ - Security Media
Chris Cron +971-(0)-50-987-1317
E-mail: cron.media@hotmail.com
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