UAE amnesty extension: Violators hail govt's initiative

News Network

August 18, 2020

Dubai, Aug 18: Residents and visitors with expired UAE visas have hailed the latest government decision that gave them three more months to legalise their status or leave the country.

Authorities have confirmed that the short-term amnesty for visa violators, whose papers have expired before March 1, will be extended.

Major General Saeed Rakan Al Rashidi, director-general of the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA), said the scheme - which began on May 18 and was supposed to end on August 18 - will now run until November 17.

SV Reddy, a social worker, said: "We have been getting 'out passes' for many people who have no proper paperwork or passports.

"Earlier, the government gave an extension for one month and now it's for three months. It's a huge relief for many people who were scared as they did not have proper documents."

Reddy said a number of people who have not been able to go home for years are now taking this opportunity to finally be with their families.

"Our association has been working relentlessly to help such people and now we have more time to do it."

Srikanth Sudappatti, a cleaner from Telangana, said he could now heave a sigh of relief as he gets ready to come home to his wife and mother, whom he hadn't seen for a year.

"We have time to leave now. Our outpasses and other paper work are being processed. Now, we don't have to rush to leave the country. Earlier, I was quite worried, thinking what if we get caught and face penalties? I have no job and no money."

Ravindrakumar Manjhi was also desperate and unsure about what he had to do next - until he heard the news, which gave him hope. "I came to the UAE a year ago. The agent who got me here as a plumber ran away with my passport and left us fending for ourselves even without a job. The landlord asked me to vacate the room where I was living. I started living in a mosque in Ajman before I was picked up by a social worker's team. I am so glad that the amnesty has been granted for another three months."

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‘Unexplained Slowdown’: Congress Complains To Election Commission On Haryana Results

News Network

October 8,2024

New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday afternoon filed a formal complaint with the Election Commission regarding a delay in publishing the leads and results of the Haryana poll. In a brief letter the opposition party said that between 9 and 11 am there was "an unexplained slowdown in updating of results".

"As you can imagine this allows bad faith actors to spin out narratives that undermine the process. You can see examples of it already playing out on social media. Our fear is also that such narratives can then be used by these mala fide actors to influence processes where counting is still underway, i.e., in most of the counting centres," the Congress told the Election Commission.

"We request you to issue immediate directions to your officials to update the website with true and accurate figures, so that false news and malicious narratives can be countered immediately."

Minutes earlier the Congress' Jairam Ramesh said, "... we hope the Election Commission will answer our questions. The results of 10-11 rounds are out... but only four to five rounds are updated on the site." He also flagged those "trying to build pressure by sharing outdated and misleading trends..."

The Congress had raced into an early lead in Haryana as postal votes were counted, only for the BJP to stage a thrilling comeback late morning as ballots were opened. The ruling party then raced into a lead of its own, which it has held since; at noon the BJP held 48 seats - two over the majority mark.

Early celebrations at the Congress' Delhi HQ ground to a halt as the party - which is set to win the first Jammu and Kashmir election in a decade - contemplated a third straight defeat in Haryana.

The party's senior leader in the state - Kumari Selja, who is also in the Congress' chief ministerial race - told NDTV the Election Commission will "have to answer" the question posed.

"Why is the counting going slowly? It was fine during the Lok Sabha election... so why is the counting going slowly now? It is the responsibility of the EC to tell the world why counting has slowed," she said.

Mr Ramesh, however, insisted the party remains confident.

"There is no need to be disheartened..." he told ANI, "Mind games are being played. There is no need to be disheartened. We are going to get the mandate. Congress will form the government."

The BJP's Sudhanshu Trivedi responded swiftly, declaring the complaining meant the Congress had "accepted defeat". "If Congress has started pointing fingers at Election Commission then we should understand they have accepted defeat..." he told reporters, "Per current trends I feel we are moving to an important win and Congress has started taking precautionary measures for future defeat."

The Congress had made similar complaints in June, when votes were being counted for the general election. Then Mr Ramesh implied the poll panel may have received "orders" to slow down counting.

In that case he had flagged apparent delays in publishing results for seats in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which account for over 120 seats between them and in which the ruling BJP (and its ally, the Janata Dal United) was facing a tough challenge from the Congress-led INDIA bloc and its allies.

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