By IANS
Dubai : With less than a month before the United Arab Emirates (UAE) special amnesty scheme for illegal expatriate workers ends, a Kerala association has decided to charter a plane to bring back the needy Indian amnesty seekers free of cost.
The Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) announced Wednesday that it would charter an Air India plane that would leave Dubai for Calicut, in Kerala, Sep 1 carrying 166 Indian amnesty seekers, Khaleej Times reported.
In June, the UAE government set a deadline of three months for all illegal foreign workers to either acquire legal status to stay in the country or face deportation.
“Ever since the UAE government declared the amnesty, we have been in the forefront to help amnesty seekers,” Yahya Thalangara, general secretary of KMCC UAE chapter, said.
“Air India had given us a good package for chartering the flight. If needed, we will charter one more aircraft,” Yahya added.
Earlier, the Kerala government’s Department of Non-Resident Keralites’ Affairs (NORKA) had decided to give free air tickets to Indian workers wanting to return to India.
Emirates Airlines has already announced that it will offer special discounted fares to amnesty seekers, including Indians. Air India has also lowered fares for workers wanting to return to India and will operate two additional flights on Aug 19 and 22 to Hyderabad via Mumbai.
The Indian consulate here has received more than 33,000 applications for emergency certificates from Indian workers.
There are around 1.4 million expatriate Indians in the UAE, many of whom are employed as contract workers. In Dubai alone, Indians comprise over 60 percent of the city’s total population of over 1.4 million.