Passport fee waiver for Indians hit by Naif Souq fire

Dubai: The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has instructed the consulate in Dubai to waive fees for issuing duplicate passports to all Indian traders and workers whose travel documents were lost or damaged in the fire that gutted Naif souq.

Applicants are required to apply for a duplicate passport before May 12.

The requirement of a newspaper advertisement and individual police report to apply for a duplicate passport have also been waived.

About 183 shops owned by Pakistanis and Indians were destroyed in the fire. The shops sold toys, perfume and textiles.

Ebrahim Elattil, president of the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre, Dubai (KMCC) submitted to the consulate a list of Indian workers who had lost their travel documents the day after the fire.

"The consulate did not waste time and issued duplicate passports to all 19 of them the very next day, which is commendable."

Indian Consul General Venu Rajamony as well as Passport Consul R.C. Nair also paid a visit to the souq to give assurances to the victims.

Donations

E. Ahmad, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, who interacted with the victims, also assisted the workers in getting duplicate passports and getting the application fees waived," he said.

Indian businessmen have also donated generously towards the welfare of the workers who lost their only source of income.

"The businessmen are M.A. Yousuf Ali, founder and managing director of Emke group; Shamsudeen Mohiuddin, chairman of the Regency group; Hassan, chairman of Flora Hotel and Apartments, and P. Pushpan, president of the Overseas Congress.

"Every worker will receive Dh20 per day for food and water for two months," said Ebrahim.

Bilal Kader, a trader who lost his passport in the fire and got a new document, said that some of the workers had left the country and those who have decided to remain are hoping to find work by next month.

"Every evening the workers come and sit in groups and discuss their future by the pavement opposite the place where until April 1 they earned their livelihood.

"These workers have no place to go and come to the location of the gutted souq with the hope they will be employed temporarily by some businessman," said Bilal Kader.

A.Sajid, 32, an Indian worker who opted to remain here, said that going back to his native place in the south Indian state of Kerala was not an option for him as the responsibility of three younger sisters and a widowed mother was on him.

"A couple of fellow workers did not have patience and went back home.

"The trader in whose shop I was employed had promised me a job by next month.

"I don't mind staying back. There are quite a few workers who stayed back and we all help motivate each other to stay calm and be patient," he said.