Indian Embassy seeks amnesty for its illegal immigrants

By V L Srinivasan

Muscat, Jan 9: Concerned over the fate of thousands of illegal Indian immigrants in the sultanate, the Indian Embassy in Muscat has started accepting applications from them to seek amnesty from the Oman government on their behalf and facilitate their return to India.

The move comes after the Royal Decree on November 1 last year that amended Labour Law in November last year and provided it more teeth to deal with illegal employment in the country.

The government of Oman had also set a deadline for local employers to regularise such workers before the end of last year. This was later extended by another two months.

The Embassy officials have started the process since mid December and have received more than 11,000 applications so far. They have not fixed any last date for registering them.

This is the third time the Indian Embassy has taken up the task. Some 16,000 people were sent back to India in 2005 and another 3,500 in 2007. Incidentally, H E Anil Wadhwa, the Indian Ambassador to Oman, is dealing with the issue for the second time in the last two and a half years.

The issue came to the fore when the Indian Embassy officials, during their Open House session with Indian expatriates on December 17, were informed about the problem being faced by immigrants who did not have proper documents to work in the sultanate.

“We devised registration forms and had a few volunteers on the embassy premises to accept the applications from them. We have received more than 11,000 applications during the last fortnight out of an estimated 25,000. Since there is no deadline, we appeal to the remaining people to come and register with us,” Wadhwa told Muscat Daily.

Most of these illegal immigrants are from the South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

They have entered the sultanate either illegally from a neighbouring country to work or came on visit visas and were working without permission after their sponsors abandoned them.

The Indian Embassy officials have already written to Minister of Manpower H E Abdullah bin Nasser bin Abdullah al Bakri requesting them to allow the illegals to leave Oman by exempting them from payment of the fine as they are unemployed.

"There are already between 150 to 200 Indians in the detention centres at Samail and other places whose cases are being dealt separately. We want to give them an opportunity to return to India and are awaiting a response from the Ministry of Manpower officials," H E Wadhwa said.

However, the process of illegal immigrants leaving the country is by no means an easy one as there are still some 700 odd people, who have registered in 2007, and are yet to leave Oman as the documentation process is not complete.

Most of the people are ready to pay for their return airfare, but they are in no position to pay the fine amount which may go up to RO1,500. “We will make arrangements for those who cannot pay for their tickets,” H E Wadhwa said. According to the Indian Embassy officials, they would approach the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that this group of people are granted amnesty and sent back to their native places without paying a fine.