Al Ain: The border restrictions, which lasted only five days, had a serious impact on Al Ain residents.

Thousands of people, mainly non-GCC expatriates, have been facing a shortage of residential accommodation with people moving from Al Buraimi to Al Ain.

Landlords and real estate agents have been openly violating the law by demanding exorbitant rents.

High rents, coupled with rising inflation, have been consuming a major chunk of people's salaries.

Rising rents have also impacted commodity prices. The government has increased salaries for its employees, but private companies are forcing people to work on their existing salaries or resign.

The shifting of thousands of people also increased traffic on Al Ain streets. Gridlock appeared every evening in the downtown area that currently has several diversions.

The Department of Naturalisation and Residency opened a new transit terminal at Khatam Al Shukla (KAS) to handle the growing number of people crossing the border between the UAE and Oman.

A department official said the new complex can handle thousands of people crossing the border from both sides.

The old check posts will now only handle trucks that cross the borders carrying goods on international routes.

KAS recently came under heavy pressure when Al Ain's expatriate residents started using the point to cross over to Oman under the recently revoked border restrictions.