Thousands rush for amnesty as Sept 2 deadline nears

Thousands of Bangladeshi undocumented workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are running against time to either regularise their immigration status or to leave the country under the three-month amnesty ending on September 2.
The race, unwelcome by the workers because of their debts and poor financial conditions back home, started following the UAE's declaration of the amnesty in the first week of June.
Bangladesh foreign ministry asked the civil aviation authorities to be prepared with more flights to accommodate the workers returning from the UAE, a ministry official told The Daily Star yesterday.
Emirates, Etihad Airways, and Air India are offering special rates for carrying undocumented workers to different destinations including Bangladesh, and are considering increasing the frequency of flights to accommodate the rush, reported Dubai-based newspaper the Khaleej Times.
The workers however are more likely to get their status regularised, the foreign ministry official said adding that the Bangladesh mission in UAE is now busy registering the names of the amnesty seekers.
"Our ambassador Nazimullah Chowdhury is visiting various places in the UAE, and collecting everyday around 600 applications from the workers who want to take advantage of the amnesty," the official said.
The mission is meeting community leaders to explain various aspects of the amnesty for the undocumented workers, he noted.
The offices of the mission in Dubai and Abu Dhabi also remain open during the weekends to render consular services to the amnesty seekers.
Until July 19, the Bangladesh mission issued over 900 departure passes, according to a Khaleej Times report. The foreign ministry however could not provide the latest number of departure passes issued by the mission.
Airports in the UAE allow foreign undocumented workers to leave the country only when they hold the departure passes issued by the missions of respective countries.
Bangladesh mission also collected nearly 20,000 passports of Bangladeshi undocumented workers from various government agencies in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which had been held by the UAE government for various reasons.
Foreign ministry officials said the number of Bangladeshi undocumented workers in the UAE is not more than 25,000 to 30,000, but manpower export experts however estimate the number to be more than that.
Official records of the UAE show 2,15,718 Bangladeshis are residing in Abu Dhabi, 1,23,514 in Dubai, and 1,63,610 in the Northern Emirates.
According to the UAE labour ministry, there are 3.5 lakh undocumented immigrants with 2.5 lakh of them already leaving their jobs claiming that their employers had exploited them and breached their contracts, while the others are tourists who are remaining in that country illegally.
Foreigners in the UAE become undocumented when their visas expire, or if they leave their contracted jobs, or if tourists start working illegally.
The UAE needs many more workers for its huge construction industries, but at the same time its decision not to keep foreign workers undocumented, prompted its government to declare the amnesty, foreign ministry officials said.
The UAE signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) recently with many manpower exporting countries including Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, in a bid to ensure rights of foreign workers.