Citizenship drive offers new hope to stateless

Abu Dhabi/Dubai: Thousands of people lacking documents to prove their identity have registered for UAE citizenship in the various emirates during the first two days after registration booths were opened by the Interior Ministry.

At the booths, which became operational on Sunday, applicants must fill out detailed forms explaining why they should be granted UAE nationality.

The authorities make a final decision after extensive scrutiny of the application.

On Sunday, more than 7,000 application forms were distributed.

Having been in troubled waters for years, people lacking documents to prove their identity can now hope for a better life.

These people belong to two groups - Arabs (from neighbouring countries) and non-Arabs (mainly from Iran and the Indian subcontinent).

It was in 2006 that President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued instructions to resolve the issue of people without documents to prove their identity.

Subsequently, a committee was formed comprising officials from the Interior Ministry and Ministry of Presidential Affairs. The committee helped naturalise about 1,300 people.

However, only a small percentage benefited from the process since unofficial estimates said there could be between 75,000 and 100,000 such people here.

To ensure better effectiveness of the process, the government has set up booths that will remain open for two months.

Speaking to Gulf News in Sharjah, Abu Mohammad, a 43-year-old who has been living in the UAE for more than 38 years and is married to a UAE national, said all these years he and his eight children had to live with no legal rights. But all that was about to change, he hoped.

"To register for identification cards is the first step towards legalising our status in this country and getting UAE citizenship," he said.

Ali Bahran is a 37-year-old bank employee whose family came to the UAE after World War II and have since been categorised as people without documents to prove their nationality.

"I have not had any other home country apart from the UAE and to receive the nationality is only natural," Bahran said.

However, Bahran will have to wait for an indefinite period before he learns whether he will be granted citizenship.

Another person without documents to prove his identity said he had lost his job following the introduction of a new rule that stipulated that only UAE nationals would be allowed to work in certain departments.

"This opportunity to legalise our status has given us hope for a better and more secure future.

"I do not think that as a UAE national anybody can just dismiss me from my job.

"We are the children of this country and today the journey to prove that is about to start," he said.

To most applicants, being granted nationality will mean much more than just securing a passport.

Speaking to Gulf News at the Al Raha Mall in Abu Dhabi after submitting her papers on the first day, Fatima (name changed) said: "My father sustains our family by helping his brother at work. The rest of us are all unemployed. We are suffering, not being able to do anything."

Update: Booths are open

Booths have been set up at Uptown Mall in Dubai, Noor Al Kawthar Mall in Ajman and Al Ta'awun Mall in Sharjah.

Registration is open for two months and the booths function from Saturday to Thursday, from 9am to 3pm.