Two lakh or so unskilled workers and illegal migrants without work permits have to return to India from the UAE under a three-month amnesty that lasts till September 2.
CHENNAI/BANGALORE: Syed Ali (28), a scrap dealer in Thiruvananthapuram, could just not earn enough to marry off his sister after working for seven years. Leaving his elderly mother and sister back home, Ali left for Abu Dhabi last year after borrowing Rs 40,000 to pay his "visa agent".
He will be among the two lakh or so unskilled workers and illegal migrants without work permits to return to India from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) under a three-month amnesty that lasts till September 2.
The UAE government in June gave three months to Ali and likes to either become legal workers or leave the country without penalty. With five days left to the deadline, what started off as a trickle in June is beginning to turn into a flood reminiscent of a war-time evacuation. This is the third time in 11 years that the UAE has announced amnesty for illegal workers but by all accounts, the number of people leaving this time is the largest so far.
Afraid of the stiff penalties of jail sentences, fines and a permanent ban on re-entry if they stay on, many are desperate to leave the country. But having left their passports with brokers or employers, they are queuing up before the special help counters that the Indian missions have opened. The first thing they need to lay their hands on is an "out pass" or an "emergency certificate" that enables them to leave without passports.
"We have so far issued up to 65,000 such certificates," India's consul-general in Dubai Venu Rajamony told DNA. He said of the 350,000 illegal immigrants that the UAE had said were working in the country a majority are Indians.
The next scramble is for air tickets, but while some have no money to pay for the fares there are not enough flights to take them home. Though financial help is at hand from Indian missions and associations, airlines are finding it hard to cope with the rush.
"The government is doing what it can," minister of state for overseas affairs Vayalar Ravi told DNA, adding that he had asked Air India and Indian to operate special flights.
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