Dubai: Nearly 20,00 Indian overstayers in the Emirates got a fresh reprieve on April 30 as the government extended the amnesty for one more month.

"More than 20,000 Indian overstayers have availed of the amnesty till date and are in the process of leaving the country," Indian mission officials said.

The four-month amnesty that began in January was to expire on April 30 but the period has been extended for another month at the last minute to enable more people avail of the general pardon for residence visa violations, a media report said.

The UAE has warned that all those who stayed back after the deadline will be deported with a permanent ban on their returning to the country and that the interior ministry will step up raids to detect illegal immigrants.

The one-month grace period for amnesty was prompted by requests from various Embassies particularly from Asia and in view of the sudden spurt in the number of illegals approaching the missions for out passes to leave the country.

Some 500 applications for out-passes were received by the Indian consulate in Dubai on April 29, marking the largest number during the last months. The consulate has so far issued about 10,200 out-passes while 4000 passports returned from the immigration or labour departments had been given to the owners who may have left the country by now.

Nearly 6,000 illegal Indians in Abu Dhabi have also collected out-passes or passports from the Indian Embassy to return to India, bringing the total number of amnesty seekers from the country to about 20,000.

PTI