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Dubai: It was absolute pandemonium in front of the Indian consulate in Dubai yesterday with thousands of the amnesty seekers besieging the building.
People waiting in long serpentine queues all of a sudden turned impatient and were seen converging at the consulate gates urging the guards to allow them to get inside the building. They were later urged to fall back in line by the consulate guards, officials and the Dubai police.
Majority among the amnesty seekers were absconders who had come to the consulate upon learning that the consulate had received thousands of passports of Indian citizens from the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD).
The scene inside the consulate was however very organised with seating arrangements made for the amnesty seekers in the consulate auditorium.
A consulate official yesterday told Gulf News that they have made the best arrangements based on resources at hand.
About 27,000 passports of Indian citizens were received by the consulate from DNRD. Distribution of these passports will be held throughout the day at the Indian High School, Dubai today.
In batches
He said: "Those people waiting outside the consulate gates have been allowed inside the building in batches. It is not feasible to allow thousands of people all at once into the building."
Amnesty seekers who spoke to Gulf News said that they have been waiting patiently outside the consulate gates from morning and were agitated by the delay. They said that things got a bit out of control when a demand from them to speak to a consul was being turned down by the consulate guards.
An amnesty seeker said: "We had learnt that the consulate had received all our passports from the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department. I was hoping that one of them would be my passport," he said.
Another amnesty seeker who had also come to the consulate with a hope of getting his passport back said: "All that we wanted to know is how long would it take for us before we are allowed into the building. It is very hot and we can't even leave the queue to get some drinking water. Whatever the reason, once we break the queue we are not allowed in."
The consulate yesterday received 15,700 applications for Emergency Certificates.
About 5,010 certificates have been issued so far. In a statement issued yesterday, the consulate said that due to the extra work generated on account of the amnesty announced by the UAE authorities and due to the holiday rush, the consulate is facing unprecedented number of visitors.
Sundays and Mondays are peak days at the consulate. To avoid longer waiting time, it is requested that the public who approach the consulate for various services stagger their visits to Wednesdays and Thursdays.
B.S. Mubarak, Indian labour consul said that applications for emergency certificates are received at 11 dedicated centres for amnesty opened by the Indian consulate in each emirate.
Assistance: Mission operates dedicated phone line
Indian Consulate operates a dedicated phone line from 9am to 5pm from Sunday through Thursday. The phone number is 050-4293269.
Passports of Indian citizens received by the Indian consulate from the DNRD will be distributed at the Indian High School. (No 050-1505292)
The list of passports is available on the Indian Consulate website: www.cgidubai.com
Labourers who want to get their status legalised can call the toll free number 800 5111.
Special telephone numbers
Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has set up special numbers for amnesty seekers. Volunteers will answer the calls.
- 050-5805757 (8 am to 8 pm)
- 050-8232878 ( 9 am to 5 pm)
- 050-6991480 (6 pm to 8 am )
- 02-4464564 ( 8 am to 8 pm)
- 02-6422298, 050-4431918 (4 pm to 11 pm)
- Sunita Menon & Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporters
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