UAE | Government
EIDA staff rebuffed us, expatriates say
Identity authority denies Emiratis-only restrictions, warns disciplinary action against officials.
- By Binsal Abdul Kader Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:33 December 29, 2008
Abu Dhabi: Several expatriate professionals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai alleged that they were denied ID card registration by Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA) Staff who said "we are only registering Emiratis."
They claimed they were surprised to hear "such a decision which was not reported in any media."
"I went to EIDA centre behind Carrefour on Airport road in Abu Dhabi on December 25 but an official told me they were accepting applications from Emiratis only until the end of December," said K. Rajesh.
Serve all applicants
A Dubai resident said he waited about one hour on the queue on Saturday but EIDA staff denied him the registration.
"I reached Al Barsha centre in Dubai at 7am and waited until 8am for the gates to be opened, but the staff said Saturday and Sunday are designated for Emiratis," said Mohammad Ali, an Engineer. Ali said the officials told him that expats are only served on Mondays.
An engineer in Abu Dhabi said he visited two centres on Monday but the officials said expatriates were not being served, "for the time being".
Meanwhile, EIDA said no decision was made to restrict the registration for Emiratis only and exclude expatriate professionals. "It was the individual acts of the staff and disciplinary action will be taken against them," said Thamer Rashid Al Qasimi, Planning Director and Project Management Director at EIDA.
"EIDA investigated the complaints from Gulf News' readers immediately and Darwish Al Zarouni, Director General issued a circular to all centres in the country, instructing the staff to serve all applicants with due respect."
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