Dubai: Amnesty seekers have been approaching dhow crews to ake them home in exchange for performing chores on board or for a nominal charge.
Crew members of dhows, which are berthed along the Dubai and Sharjah creek, said eight to 10 labourers mostly from Pakistan and India come to them every day asking them if they can take them to their home countries.
While some labourers have offered to perform chores on board in return for passage home, others are ready to pay Dh200 to Dh300.
Air tickets being provided to amnesty seekers at a low rate will cost them a minimum of Dh500.
Illegal
Amnesty seekers who have got outpasses cannot sail by dhow on their own since it is illegal. Their names will not be on the dhow's manifest and could be presumed missing if they cannot be traced in the UAE.
Boatmen operating on the Buhaira corniche said labourers have approached them, asking if they could help them contact dhow crews in Sharjah and Dubai.
Dhow crews said labourers prefer approaching Iranian and Bangladeshi sailors because they understand Urdu and Hindi. A few crew members told Gulf News that they feel sorry for the labourers who are trying desperately to save money.
Hanifa, a Bangladeshi sailor whose dhow is berthed along the Dubai creek, said that he had to turn labourers away as his dhow does not sail to India or Pakistan. He said: "There were two Indian labourers. They were not fluent in Hindi and wanted me to ask my captain to allow them to get on board ... When I told them that we are not sailing to India, they did not believe me and kept coming back. They were even ready to carry out work for free."
Raju Adiyacha, a boatman operating on the Buhaira corniche in Sharjah who is from Kutch, in the western Indian state of Gujarat said: "A common question asked is how many days it takes to sail to India and Pakistan on a dhow."
An Iranian sailor who could speak broken Hindi said: "I feel sad about their desperation. Who doesn't want to save money? Taking a risk to travel illegally by sea is not an intelligent thing to do. It is impossible to sneak anyone on board as there is very strict vigilance on dhows in every port, be it the UAE or elsewhere."
Indian Consulate receives 25,000 applications
The Indian Consulate has received 25,000 applications for Emergency Certificates. It has printed 12,150 certificates. Out of the 32,000 passports it received from the immigration authorities, about 10,000 passports have been distributed to Indian nationals.
The consulate will operate its collection centres at Indian High School, Dubai and Indian Association Sharjah on Saturday at 9am.
