'Only 11,000 have used amnesty offer in Abu Dhabi'

Abu Dhabi: Only 11,000 illegal workers have come forward to take advantage of the amnesty in the emirate since it was announced 90 days ago, diplomats said.

Asian embassies had distributed around 9,000 travel documents to amnesty seekers as of last week and officials said the number is slowly increasing.

The Indian Embassy was crowded during the week after it published the list of passport numbers received from the UAE authorities.

"Around 3,000 people came last week alone. We have already distributed about 1,200 passports out of 14,000 handed over by the UAE authorities. More than 900 outpasses were issued to applicants who did not have passports," said a diplomat.

Almost 200 people approach the Bangladesh Embassy daily. It has distributed about 2,000 passports out of 11,000 which were handed over by Abu Dhabi Naturalisation and Residency Department, said Mohammad Bakthiar Alam, Counsellor. Around 900 outpasses were also issued.

Pakistan Embassy have received around 1,500 applications and outpasses were issued to almost all, said Faisal Tirmizi, First secretary at the embassy.

Around 1,200 workers have approached the Sri Lankan Embassy so far. "About 266 outpasses and 150 passports were distributed," said Mohammad Nabavi Junaid, Ambassador of Sri Lanka.