UAE | Visa
'Crazy rush' at Pakistani centres
With just days left to the amnesty deadline, hundreds of illegal Pakistani residents seeking amnesty have started coming to their consulate in Dubai and associations to get outpasses.
- By Ashfaq Ahmed, Staff Reporter
- Published: 01:01 August 23, 2007
- Image Credit: Regi Varghese/Gulf News
- Illegal Pakistani residents queue up to collect outpasses at the Pakistan Association in Dubai.
Dubai: With just 12 days left to the amnesty deadline, hundreds of illegal Pakistani residents seeking amnesty have started coming to their consulate in Dubai and associations to get outpasses.
"It has been a crazy rush for the last 10 days as we are issuing around 750 outpasses every day," said Naveed Elahi, Consul at the Pakistan Consulate in Dubai.
He admitted that they were not expecting this much of rush towards the end of three-month amnesty period.
"Our staff and volunteers at the Pakistan Association in Dubai, the Consulate and the Pakistan Social Centre Sharjah have been working more than 12 hours every day to cope with the increasing rush," he said.
Long queues
Around 450 to 500 people go to the association every day, while around 100 go to Sharjah Social Centre and the Consulate. Some people also go to the Pakistan Centre in Ras Al Khaimah.
"We have so far issued more than 20,000 outpasses to amnesty seekers. The number is quite bigger than what we were expecting," Elahi said.
The Pakistani Embassy in Abu Dhabi has seen a poor response. "We issued just 1,670 outpasses till August 21 from Abu Dhabi and Al Ain but the number of amnesty seekers has suddenly increased during the past one week," said Faisal Trimizi, First Secretary at the embassy. The embassy had issued 7,500 outpasses during amnesty in 2003.
Riaz Farooq, president of the Pakistan Association in Dubai, said some 15 volunteers from the association are working with the consulate officials at the amnesty centre at the association. "We also serve food free of cost to those who come to apply for outpasses. Our volunteers also help them fill forms and guide them," Farooq said.
INFORMATION
Saturday deadline for receipt of applications
The Pakistan Consulate in Dubai has fixed August 25 as the last date to receive applications for outpasses from amnesty seekers.
"Although, the last date of amnesty is September 3, we request our people to get outpasses until August 25 because they need extra time to go through other procedures such as security clearance before flying back home," said Naveed Elahi, Pakistan Consul in Dubai.
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