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Overstayed Foreign Workers

UAE govt offers 3-month amnesty

Star Report
In a landmark move, the United Arab Emirates yesterday launched a threemonth visa amnesty programme, hoping to resolve a "Catch-22 " for foreign workers who are fined daily for overstaying their permits but prevented from leaving until they pay the penalties.
The government isn't releasing specific numbers, but said it expects "thousands” of people, primarily labourers from countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and the Philippines, to take advantage of the amnesty through the end of October, reports AP.
Talking to The Daily Star by phone yesterday, Arman Ullah Chowdhury, counsellor at Bangladesh embassy in Abu Dhabi, said this was a huge opportunity for the Bangladeshis who had been undocumented for months or years and could not return home or regularise their immigration status.
There are around 7 lakh Bangladeshis working in the UAE. And, about 5,000 of them maybe undocumented, he said.
"Those who want to go home can do it without paying any fines. The embassy will issue them outpasses (travel passes] at a discount rate. Generally, we charge 60 dirham 11 dirham=Tk 23] for issuing an outpass, but now we have brought it down to 20 dirham," Arman said.
The amnesty will continue for three months until October 30. Besides,
people can also get a six-month temporary visa to stay in the country and look for work.
"We are issuing new passports for those who want to look for work and outpasses for those who want to leave," Arman added.
"No one will stay at home while there's a good chance to solve their problems,” predicted Maj Gen Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, the director of Dubai's office for residency and foreigner affairs, AP added.
Of the UAE's estimated population of more than 9 million people, only about 12 percent are Emiratis.
As it stands, foreigners who overstay their visas are fined between 25 to 100 dirham (about $7 to $27) a day, depending on the type of visa, and aren't allowed to leave the country until the fines are paid. As the fines mount over months and years, their prospects of payment become slimmer and slimmer, leaving them in limbo.
In Dubai, officials have said more than 25,000 people overstayed their residency visas in 2017 alone.
"These are not criminals," Al Marri said. "We are here to support and help these people to start over again and start working."
Centres were set up around the country to process applicants, with consular officials from many countries also on hand to help deal with passport and other issues.
Hundreds showed up at two massive air-conditioned tents set up on the outskirts of Dubai for the first day of the programme. It's the fifth general amnesty since 1996, and more than 60,000 people took advantage of the last one, in 2013.
Under the programme, all fines for overstaying visas will be forgiven and people will be allowed to return to the UAE with new visas without preconditions - a nod to the country's need for foreign workers.
Foreigners from war-torn countries such as Syria and Yemen qualify for a one-year residence visa without restrictions.
"It's a gift from the government of the UAE as a humanitarian gesture," Al Marri said.