The government of the United Arab Emirates has announced that those who enter the country illegally after Aug. 1 will not be allowed to claim the amnesty now being granted by the government.
According to Brigadier Saeed Rakan Al Rashedi, the director-general of Foreign and Port Affairs at the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, foreign nationals who entered the UAE after Aug. 1 will be subjected to the usual legal procedures, Khaleej Times reported.
Al Rashedi commended the efforts and services provided by amnesty centers and said h was happy that many illegal and undocumented residents in the country had benefitted from the amnesty program.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said four batches of Filipinos from Dubai and two batches from Abu Dhabi have returned to the Philippines after using the amnesty. Almost 1,000 Filipinos were granted amnesty since the UAE government’s amnesty program began in August.
All Filipinos who returned to the Philippines were given cash assistance of PHP5,000 each from the Philippine government. The Philippine Consulate in the UAE shouldered the costs of all their exit fines and plane tickets.