Dubai: Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi assured Indian workers, stranded in UAE despite amnesty, to make arrangements for their return.

Addressing a press conference in Dubai yesterday, Ravi said the government will take all measures so that the stranded Indians can leave the country.
Media reports have suggested that there are 500 people staying in parks and other places as they cannot afford air tickets.

The minister, who acknowledged the air ticket issue as a "real problem", said he was in touch the government of Andhra Pradesh to work out an exit plan for them. The majority of the stranded Indians are from the state. Indian Ambassador to the UAE Talmiz Ahmed has assured them that they would go home before the November 3 deadline of the amnesty.

Seventy thousand ECs, or out-passes, were issued by the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate in Dubai, Ahmed said, adding that 40,000 overstaying Indians corrected their residential status by finding alternative jobs.

He said the Indian mission here has a list of the workers requiring air tickets and is working to resolve the issue. Over 200 tickets have already been issued with the help of community organisations and individual donors.

Source : PTI