Dubai authorities nabbed nearly 34,500 foreigners who were either staying illegally in the country or sneaked into the emirate in the first half of 2016.
About 7,799 of them were found to be wanted by the police in various cases while more than 15,000 had entered the UAE illegally after they were deported.
Police figures showed 1,780 of those arrested were caught begging and were staying illegally in the emirate.
They showed that most of those nabbed during that period were Asians and many of them were jobless.
The number of offenders was far higher this year than in the first half of last year, when around 24,700 illegal migrants were arrested.