January 6, 2003	Monday	Ziqa’ad 2, 1423

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DUBAI, Jan 5: A lukewarm response by the Pakistanis, living illegally in the United Arab Emirates, is seen to the four-month amnesty granted by the UAE government.

“They are slow in the beginning, the rush grows gradually and will substantially increase during the last days,” a Pakistan embassy official in Abu Dhabi told Dawn on Sunday.

The amnesty that came into effect from Saturday would end on April 30.

Under the amnesty, over stayers and those who had ditched their sponsors — a violation under the UAE labour laws — will not be penalized if they leave voluntarily during the amnesty period and get the out passes from their respective embassy or consulate.

“They are probably waiting for Dubai Shopping Festival to end,” said a local businessman about the slow start. It would give them a last chance to earn some money before they leave for good as a lot of opportunities would be there for the unskilled workers and plenty of time after the festival to avail the amnesty offer, he told this reporter.

A month long Dubai Shopping Festival that starts on Jan 15 is a major annual event for the UAE and is expected to attract a large number of tourists from all over the world.

The government had also announced that amnesty seekers would not be allowed to enter UAE for one year for any purpose, visit, transit, tourism or employment. “It’s the only price beneficiaries of the four-month amnesty have to pay as punishment for breaking the rules and regulations of the country,” reported Khaleej Times.

Newspapers had also published pictures of the crowd of illegal workers, queued in front of Dubai Immigration and Residency Department that handles amnesty related affairs.

Gulf News had narrated the stories of some of them: “Among them was an Egyptian who has been in Dubai on visit visa for 10 years; a 21-year old Uzbek girl waiting with her ticket; a pregnant Indian woman from Kerala with two children in tow and a husband in jail, and Teresita, a Filipino housemaid who had run away from her sponsor.”

The government had also announced it would give free air tickets to all Afghans who would like to take the amnesty offer. Many Asian airlines were considering offering low fares for home returning illegal workers.