Dubai: Members of the Pakistani community renewing their passports continue to face the huge rush at their country's missions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi after an evening shift to complete the procedure was suspended this week due to a shortage of staff.
Hundreds of Pakistanis can be seen thronging the diplomatic missions in the two cities every day and many applicants say they have even had go and queue up at midnight to reach the appropriate window at the missions when they open the next day.
The Pakistan Consulate General in Dubai had started the evening shift a few months ago to cope with the heavy rush. Gulf News has learnt it was catering to some 400 applicants but that had to be stopped this week due to shortage of staff and lack of funds to pay overtime to existing staff for filling in for the extra shift.
"We are trying our best to accommodate as many people as possible but shortage of staff and limited resources have forced us to stop the evening shift," said a spokesperson of the Consulate in Dubai.
An official at the consulate said they have written several times to their government about the problems people were facing but have not got any response.
A visit to the consulate revealed there were just a few seats, including some wooden benches, for the more than 800 people who visited the consulate daily, mainly for passport renewal and to apply for their national identity cards.
There is not even adequate standing room inside the consulate and long queues spill over on to the road outside the premises. More than 500 people also visit the Pakistan Embassy in Abu Dhabi daily but are forced to return empty handed as they are not even able to reach the windows within the time allotted to business hours.
Beating the queue
This has prompted many of them to go to the missions as early as midnight and queue up to try and ensure that their applications are received. "I came here at 3am. The gate opens at around 7.30am but I found at least a dozen people already waiting in queue," said Kareem Khan, a resident of Fujairah.
As every applicant has to come in person to apply for passports, it is very difficult for families, especially women and children, to avail themselves of the services. Women feel very uncomfortable because there is no separate area for them. The Pakistan Consulate started an evening shift in July last year. The working hours were from 4.30pm to 7.30pm. Currently, the passport sections receive applications from 7.30am to 11am on working days, from Sunday to Thursday. Also, the number of tokens in the morning shift has been restricted to 400.
Consulate officials had earlier promised to start an appointment system and a dedicated phone line for applicants but so far nothing has materialised. "The new building plan is ready but the government is not giving its approval," an official said.
Some criticised the Pakistan government for not releasing the funds to expand the facilities despite the fact that the missions generate a huge welfare fund. Every applicant pays Dh45 for the welfare fund along with the passport renewal fee. "Why is this fund not used to construct a bigger building and hire more staff?" asked Nafees Ahmad, a prominent community member.
He said Pakistanis from the UAE remitted $800 million (Dh2.9 billion) in 2010 and the figure is set to increase to $1 billion this year, but they still receive bad treatment from their government.
Currently, it takes around 15 days to get a passport through the "urgent" procedure, and around two to three months to go through the normal process. However, the delivery of the passports has been further delayed due to the malfunctioning of printing machines back in Pakistan. There is no longer an urgent service for same day issuance.
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