Over 14,000 illegal workers of different nationalities have registered so far with embassies to avail the three-month amnesty programme announced by the Omani government.
As part of the amnesty programme, migrant workers living in Oman without proper documents and those violating the labour and foreign residency law can avail a one-way travel permit to their home country without attracting any fines.
The programme will continue until July 30.
More than 2,000 workers have registered at our embassy, H E Ayaz Hussain, Pakistan's Ambassador to Oman said. “Registration is followed by the documentation process. We have finished the documentation process for more than 1,200 workers until now.”
Explaining the process further, H E Hussain added that every embassy has been allotted a particular day by the Omani government for processing the documents. “Pakistanis have been allotted Monday as the day for immigration clearance. As many as 500 Pakistani citizens were supposed to go for immigration clearance on Monday. Once the worker gets clearance, he can prepare to travel back home in a week.”
H E Hussain said that around 5,000 illegal Pakistani workers stay in Oman. “Of these, more than 3,000 reside in Muscat while the rest are based in Sohar and Salalah.”
Rabiul Islam from the Labour Wing of the Bangladeshi Embassy in Muscat said that more than 12,000 of their citizens have registered to avail the amnesty. “It has been quite hectic as people are coming every day to register. Once the documentation is complete and immigration officials give clearance, the workers can travel back home.”
He added, “We have teams who are in touch with illegal workers who are interested in returning home. Most of these people are based in Muscat and Sohar.”
A senior official from the Sri Lankan Embassy in Muscat said that 122 illegal workers have registered to go back home. “We are not expecting any more registrations,” he said.
Appreciating the move by the Omani government, an official from the Nepali Embassy said, “We are still in the process of registering workers. Many workers are availing this amnesty and it is a great move by the Omani government.”
When contacted, an official at the Indian Embassy in Muscat refused to comment on the issue.
The last amnesty was offered by Oman in 2010.
