ABU DHABI // Twenty-one thousand Bangladeshis have taken advantage of the amnesty for illegal residents, more than twice as many as other nationalities who had overstayed in the UAE.
As of Friday, eight embassies recorded 37,298 people who had either applied for exit documents, extended the validity of their passports or regularised their stay by paying fines under the amnesty, which ends today.
The missions represent Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
The amnesty, launched on December 4, gives those living and working in the UAE a chance to register and avoid fines, prosecution and deportation.
Illegal residents scrambled to get their exit permits at the naturalisation and residency departments’ voluntary departure office in Mussaffah yesterday. Many stood in queues for up to three hours.
Among them was Arthur Smith, 41, from the UK, a construction and infrastructure manager in Abu Dhabi who had overstayed without a visa for 18 months. He had been a UAE resident for eight years.
“I am not happy to return this way under amnesty,” he said. “I was cheated by the company I worked for and they promised to renew the visa, but they did not.”
Badshah Khan, 53, has lived in the Emirates for 22 years, the past five illegally.
“A Kashmiri promised me a new visa with a better salary and gave me a fake visa and disappeared,” he said. “Due to his promises and new visa I left the previous job and since then I have been jobless. I used to earn Dh50 a day working here and there.”
Many consulates worked extended hours over the weekend and yesterday to accommodate late applicants and issue emergency certificates.
The Indian and Ethiopian missions processed applications until late last night so people could leave today. The Sri Lankan mission worked over the weekend to facilitate amnesty seekers.
There was some confusion on the final date of the amnesty, with some people and charity organisations believing yesterday was the final day.
However, a Ministry of Interior circular said the amnesty was to officially end today.
“We had applicants today,” said a spokesman for the Dubai-based Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre, a non-profit organisation. “A lot are not leaving because they think there will be an extension.”
But Maj Gen Nasser Al Menhali, assistant under-secretary for naturalisation, residency and ports affairs at the ministry, said there would be no extension.
Indian missions have recorded low numbers compared with previous amnesties. In 2007 an estimated 50,000 Indians left the country while another 36,000 legalised their status.
Officials at the Ministry of Interior and at diplomatic missions made a last call for illegals to benefit from the amnesty.
After today, fines will be imposed for overstaying visas, breaching of immigration rules and residing in the country illegally. Fines are Dh100 a day for visa offences, and Dh25 a day for residency offences.
Anyone who turns up at immigration to amend his status for overstaying, expired visas or other reasons will be fined, Maj Gen Al Menhali warned.
However, he reassured those who fear taking advantage of the amnesty would make them ineligible to return to the UAE. “They can come any number of times on new legal visas to the Emirates,” he said. “There is no ban.”
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Real Madrid (2) v Bayern Munich (1)
Where: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
When: 10.45pm, Tuesday
Watch Live: beIN Sports HD
Name: Colm McLoughlin
Country: Galway, Ireland
Job: Executive vice chairman and chief executive of Dubai Duty Free
Favourite golf course: Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club
Favourite part of Dubai: Palm Jumeirah
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Sebastian Stefan, Sebastian Morar and Claudia Pacurar
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2014
Number of employees: 36
Sector: Logistics
Raised: $2.5 million
Investors: DP World, Prime Venture Partners and family offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Osasuna 1 Real Madrid 4
Osasuna: García (14')
Real Madrid: Isco (33'), Ramos (38'), Vázquez (84'), Jovic (90' 2)
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
