Over 61,000 Illegal Residents Leave UAE On Amnesty

A total of 61,826 illegal residents made use of the UAE government’s two-month amnesty programme that ended on February 4, 2013, the interior ministry announced.

Over 38, 500 residents have already left the country and the remaining people will leave within the next fortnight, said Major General Nasser Al Awadi Al Menhali, assistant undersecretary at the Ministry of Interior for Naturalisation, Residency and Ports Affairs.

Under the two-month amnesty programme that began on December 4, 2012, illegal residents in the country were permitted to exit without facing fines or prosecution.

Al Menhali said that following the expiry of the amnesty, 1,000 violators had been caught and that the legal measures were being taken against them.
The UAE had announced a similar amnesty programme in 2007, when around 342,000 illegal residents left the country.