Up to 1,000 expatriates from the UAE are in limbo on Kish Island waiting for immigration authorities here to hammer out new visit visa rules.
Of that number, some 500 are Indians and around 500 others are a mixture of Filipinos, Pakistanis, Nepalese, Bangladeshis, other Arab nationals and Africans who all went there on a visa-change run, say sources on the island.
The UAE government recently scrapped the need for expatriates to exit the country when changing visit visa to employment visa, following the recent plane crash in Sharjah. New rules are also being drafted to regulate procedures on visit visa.
A Cabinet source said the Ministry of Interior and the General Naturalisation and Residency authorities have yet to finalise details of the new law. The source added that until the new rules are out, those given visit visas may not get a new one.
Over 70 per cent of expats on Kish are waiting for new visit visas. The rest are waiting for employment visas, they added.
"Many of those who exit to Kish have no relatives in the UAE to help them. Some have been abandoned by employers who promised to bring them back," said Mabel, a Filipina. She had spent 22 days on the island before coming back to Dubai an employment visa.
Mohammed Yunus, an Indian living in one of the dormitory accommodations on the island, told Gulf News by phone: "My visa application was rejected thrice over mistaken identity."
Yunus had already spent 24 days there and over Dh2,000 while waiting for his brother in law to get him another visit visa. "My money is running out fast and food is costly."
Gautam, 32, from Kathmandu, said: "There are about 50 fellow Nepalese here. Some of them, abandoned by job brokers, now live off the streets. They sleep on the beach at night and beg for food."
Rommel, a Filipino, has spent more than three months on Kish before another friend obtained a visit visa for him to the UAE. But he cannot leave because he racked up hotel bills of more than Dh1,000, which he can't pay.
Mabel said those stranded on the island urgently need all help they can get from charitable individuals or groups.
"Many of those people on Kish have been taken advantage of, employed temporarily until their visa expired. Then they're asked to exit to Kish and promised a new visit or employment visa. Then nothing is ever heard from the prospective employer," said Mabel.
Gulf News
