UAE amnesty lets two kids go to school for the first time

Sharjah - Badran's family is among the beneficiaries of the UAE's amnesty programme at the immigration centre in Sharjah.

Badran, a Syrian national, is happy that his 10-year-old son and five-year-old daughter will soon be able to attend school for the first time in their life. His wife, who entered the UAE on a visit visa before 10 years, gave birth to the children in Sharjah and failed to make their stay legal. 
The couple couldn't send their children to school because of their illegal status.
Badran's family is among the beneficiaries of the UAE's amnesty programme at the immigration centre in Sharjah.
"We are getting one-year visa and I can sponsor my family. The initiative has helped us to waive the fines. Now, I will enrol my children in school and my wife can find a teaching job," he added. 
On the second day of the amnesty, an Ethiopian maid got a fine waiver of Dh300,000 in Sharjah.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Colonel Hazeem bin Falah Al Suwaidi, director of the entry and residency permits at the Sharjah GDRFA, said flexibility has helped them to deal with many complicated cases such as children who were born and lived in the country for long without residency visa. "Some amnesty-seekers come with outpass that carries names that are different from their names in the original passports," he said.
Due to the unexpected number of amnesty-seekers, which reached 1,500 till Thursday noon, the Sharjah GDRFA decided to increase the number of employees at the centre from 40 to 60 to help the applicants complete the formalities faster.
Colonel Ali Amin Mohammed, director of obligation establishments-department, said that the services at the centre has been transferred to electronic system, which makes the process easy for the applicants. "The amnesty-seekers who receive their exit pass to leave the country can travel immediately on the same day they get the permit. Earlier, they had to wait for 10 days for activation of the permits, as the work was being done manually." 
He added that the amnesty-seekers have a period of 21 days to depart the county after receiving the exit pass. "But in case of an emergency that forces them to stay after that period, they will have to approach the centre with documents. We will study their situation to deal with it according to the circumstances."
The Sharjah GDRFA has launched a new tent, which is allocated only for absconders with an absconding report filed against them. Most of them don't have passports and were instructed to approach their missions to issue emergency certificates as quickly as possible.
Tigest T, an Ethiopian housemaid who overstayed in the country for nine years, said that the initiative would allow her to go back to her home country. She said she entered the country as a housemaid, but she left the work and stayed as an illegal resident for nine years.
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
• Sharjah