Thousands of illegals to make use of amnesty next month

Abu Dhabi: Thousands of foreigners who have been overstaying in the UAE are expected to apply for regularising their residency status or leave the country during the three-month-long amnesty, starting from August 1, diplomatic missions in the country say.

The diplomatic missions of major labour-sending countries in the country have started spreading word in their communities about the benefits of amnesty to those who are overstaying in the UAE.

The UAE government has granted a three-month general amnesty to foreigners violating the country’s residency laws starting from August 1.

Diplomatic missions say thousands of people will benefit from the general pardon and they are ready to facilitate them for a smooth return to their home countries.

Speaking to Gulf News, Motiram Bhusal, labour attaché at the Nepal Embassy in Abu Dhabi, said, “Around 5,000 Nepalese are expected to turn up to benefit from the amnesty and return home without paying any fines for their overstay in the UAE.”

From next week, the embassy will start disseminating information about the amnesty through its website and different social media accounts.

“This is a good opportunity for Nepalese nationals who are living without proper visa or overstaying after the expiry of their visa period. They can now return home without any hassle or they can regularise their status with a minimum fee payment if they want to stay in the UAE,” Bhusal added.

During the amnesty, violators will have the option to either rectify their legal status through paying nominal fees or leave the UAE voluntarily without paying fines and facing prosecution.

In 2013, almost 62,000 illegal residents took advantage of the last visa amnesty, which ran for two months.

Indonesian Ambassador to the UAE Husin Bagis (right), said around 1,000 people might turn up for amnesty.

“Based on the passports that have been returned to the embassy by the Indonesian government, there are at least 1,000 people. We are still obtaining the data but the conservative figure would be around 1,000 people,” the ambassador said.

“We are coordinating with our consulate general in Dubai to facilitate our citizens to participate in this programme if they choose so. We are still coordinating with the authorities concerned to have a clear understanding of how it will be implemented,” Bagis said.

Bangladesh Ambassador to the UAE Mohammad Imran (right) said: “There should be a couple of thousands of people who are overstaying and may turn up to regularise their status but we don’t think the number will be very big. We, however, encourage those who are overstaying their visa period to come to the embassy for the regularisation of their status as per the rules of the UAE.

“We provide all kinds of support to our nationals who turn up to avail the amnesty but we don’t know the exact number of people who are overstaying since the UAE has not been issuing new employment visas to Bangladeshis for more than seven years.”

“Due to non-issuance of visas to our people and since many people have returned home, we don’t think that the number of violators will be huge,” Imran said.

Ashique Hussain, press counsellor at the Pakistan Consulate in Dubai, asked residents to spread word about the amnesty among the community.

“All Pakistanis who are living in the UAE illegally are urged to take benefits of this scheme and legalise their status or return home.

“Those who don’t possess passports can approach the Pakistan Embassy in Abu Dhabi or Consulate in Dubai,” the official said.

Saburlla Khan, charge d’affaires at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Abu Dhabi, said: “There could be some Sri Lankans overstaying in the UAE, we don’t have the exact data on this yet. Once they turn up to legalise their stay or return home during the amnesty, we would help them.”