60,000 Indians could benefit from Oman's amnesty

Thiruvananthapuram, April 28, 2015: Around 60,000 Indians may benefit from an amnesty scheme announced in Oman, under which people without valid documents could either return to their country without being penalised or can rectify their papers, said a diaspora expert. The Oman government announced the scheme on Monday and said it will run from May 3 to July 30. S. Irudayarajan, who heads the migration cell at the Centre for Development Studies, told IANS that Oman has an estimated 400,000 Indians, among them 1.89 lakh Keralites. "Of the 400,000 Indians in Oman, around 15 percent would be without legal documents. This is the best time for all those who do not have proper documents to either rectify that or return home," said Irudayarajan. He said according to informed sources, a similar scheme might be announced in Bahrain in two months' time. "We have made numerous requests to the authorities that there should be a pre-departure training for Indians who decide to take up jobs in the Middle East countries," said Irudayarajan. He said most of the people who do not have valid documents are labourers who pay around Rs.1 lakh to get a work visa to work.