Abu Dhabi, Feb 7: Around 62,000 illegal immigrants have sought permits to leave the country under the two-month amnesty period that ended on February 4. Over half of them have already departed for their home countries.
Ruling out the extension of the general pardon, Major-General Nasser Al Awadhi Al Minhali, Acting Undersecretary of Naturalisation, Residency and Ports Affairs at the Ministry of Interior, told reporters that 61,826 illegal immigrants sought amnesty during the two-month grace period and 38,505 have already left the country.
“The campaign to end the phenomenon of illegal immigrants has been successful thanks to the support extended by lawful residents, NGOs, government departments, embassies and, above all, the print and electronic media,” Al Minhali said.
During two days of inspections and raids just before the deadline, immigration authorities were able to apprehend more than 1,000 illegal immigrants who were avoiding the amnesty and continuing their stay in the country illegally, he added.
“Intensified inspection and raids were carried out at various establishments and public places throughout the country from February 2 that resulted in the detection and apprehension of more than 1,000 illegal immigrants avoiding the amnesty or waiting for the last day to surrender with the anticipation that the grace period will be extended. Let me make it clear there will be no extension or any leniency in the policy. Those found still living in the country without legal status will be treated as criminal and have to face legal action,” Al Minhali warned.
Permits to leave the country by amnesty service centres across the country were issued from December 4 to February 2.
He added that those who have got amnesty permits have 10 to 15 days to leave the country.
Al Minhali said that the campaign to hunt down all immigration violators with intensified inspections and raids will continue until every illegal leaves the country.
He also advised legal residents and UAE citizens to cooperate with the ministry in spotting and reporting those immigrants living in the country illegally.
“Illegal immigrants are a threat to community and national security of any country, and therefore it is our duty to fight against this by cooperating with the authorities concerned. Those who harbour or protect illegal immigrants in any form will also be treated as criminals and shall face legal actions that include financial fines and imprisonment,” he warned.
Minhali further thanked the diplomatic missions in the country, particularly from Asian countries, for their full support to the campaign.
“The support from these embassies was tremendous and extremely helpful in tracking down the maximum number of illegal immigrants. We are really thankful to some of the ambassadors who personally visited the amnesty service centres to coordinate with their people who were there to benefit from the amnesty and leave the country without any punishment,” he added.
He also thanked the embassies for expediting the issuance of outpasses and working with national airlines and banks to extend full support to those seeking amnesty during this grace period.
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