Over-stayers who remain in the country after the ongoing amnesty period will have no place to hide.
This was the stern warning made by a senior government official, who said no work opportunities would remain for illegal workers in the country as employers would face tougher penalties and fines.
Brig Mohammad Ahmad Al Merri, Director of Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD), said: “The number of violators will be absolutely diminished in the country since employers of illegal workers and infiltrators, and those who give them shelter, are now more aware of the fact that they are going to face imprisonment and fines of up to Dh50,000 for each worker.
“Employers now will think a hundred times before sheltering these workers and paving the way for them to stay illegally.''
He added that the three-month amnesty, which started on June 4, was a good chance for illegal expat workers to legalise their status or leave the country without penalty.
“We did all possible procedures to ease extracting illegal workers, who cause confusion and instability in the labour market.
“It will be fair enough for those illegal workers who are going to adjust their situation or leave the country during the grace period. However, other workers who intend to stay illegally will not be able to slip from our grip.
“By the end of the three-month grace period, new restrictions and procedures will be implemented to fight this phenomenon.''
Even those illegal workers who are working on a daily income with no sponsor will not escape the penalties, he said.
Approximately 3,200 of illegal workers have already approached the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department to take advantage of the amnesty.
According to new immigration procedures, absconding workers and border jumpers will be iris-scanned and banned from the UAE for life.
Moreover, amnesty seekers leaving the country will also be fingerprinted by the CID at the Rashid Port police station. They must come back after two days to the DNRD to get their cancellation papers, if they are not wanted by the authorities.
Different Cases
Over-stayers
Those who came on visit visas and overstayed – must pay fines to adjust their status if staying on, or may leave the country without paying fines. They are free to come back again.
Runaways from sponsor
Those with valid residence visas but working for a different sponsor (including runaways whose employers did not file an absconder report with authorities). No need to leave the country after payment of fines and transfer of sponsorship.
Absconders (reported by sponsors)
Absconding case has to be dropped or they face a lifetime ban.
Infiltrators
Border jumpers with no documents –face a lifetime ban.
They Will Have No Work
Steven Ho
Hotel staff trainer for 10 years
Steven Ho, 28, was reported by his employer as an absconder last February after he declared his intention to quit and look for a better paid job.
“They released me for one month to enable me to find another job and subsequently, on my request, extended this period by another one and a half months. I found a better-paying job, but by the time I went back to the employer I was told that they had already filed a case of absconding and my passport was with Immigration,'' he said.
Steven said his employer later gave him a no objection certificate (NOC) on paying Dh4,500. But the DNRD refused to accept it saying that the employer had to personally appear before the authority to withdraw the absconding case.
A PRO appointed by Steven submitted the NOC to DNRD eight months ago.
“I don't want an outpass from the Indian Consulate, I want the consulate to help me recover the passport so that I can take up the new job on offer,'' he said.
Steven, born in Kolkata in the eastern Indian state of West
Bengal, has his passport copy but is not confident of retrieving the passport from the DNRD.
Pushpan Manikantan
Masseur in Dubai for four years
Pushpan Manikantan, 34, is a yoga instructor from Thiruvananthapuram, India. Holding a BA from Kerala University, he has been in Dubai for the past four years working as a masseur at different establishments.
When his last employer, a health centre at Sharjah, did not pay him for six months, he stopped reporting for duty and looked for individual clients. His passport remains with his employer who is not giving it back to him.
Though he has a copy of his valid passport, his employment visa expired on August 6 last year. He suspects his passport has been handed over to the DNRD.
Manikantan has been advised to approach the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD) with the passport copy and an air ticket to India.
Chandrasekharan Natarajan
Worked in the UAE for over two years
Chandrasekharan Natarajan can't wait to get home to undergo surgery to remove kidney stones. He is due to receive the emergency certificate in lieu of a passport on July 2.
Suffering bouts of pain, he has just applied for the certificate or the outpass at the collection centre opened by the Indian Consulate at the Indian High School for issuing travel documents to illegal nationals without passports or on expired visas.
The 23-year-old construction worker from Vragular, in Tamil Nadu, worked in Sharjah for more than two years, but ran away to work for another company in Al Quoz, Dubai, after eight months without pay. He still holds a work permit valid for seven months.
“I have appealed to the Indian Consulate staff to issue me the emergency certificate at the earliest so that I can travel home for treatment,'' he said.
- Compiled By Subramani Dharmarajan
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