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Oman allows 2,600 illegal Indians to go home
A total of 2,603 Indians, who have been illegally overstaying in Oman will be allowed to go home without paying any fine.
A total of 2,603 Indians, who have been illegally overstaying in Oman will be allowed to go home without paying any fine.
Oman's Inspector General of Police and Customs Malik Bin Sulaiman Al Maamari said this in the course of a meeting with visiting Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed in Muscat on Monday, according to an Indian embassy statement.
Ahamed is on a two-day visit to the Gulf nation.
"As a goodwill gesture, Lt Gen Maamari agreed to expedite the repatriation of these overstaying Indian nationals without fines and issued instructions that they be repatriated forthwith subject to usual checks," the statement said.
The Indians had come to Oman on visit or family visas but became illegal residents for various reasons.
The Indian embassy in Oman had called on the illegal residents to register their names with the embassy in October-November last year so that their cases could be taken up with the Omani authorities.
Most of the illegal residents were stuck in Oman because they could not afford to pay the fines.
The Indian mission then submitted the list to the local authorities in March this year.
India's Ambassador to Oman Anil Wadhwa, in the statement, described Al Maamari's announcement as "a major breakthrough and an excellent gesture" since the cases have been pending for quite a few months.
Ahamed, in the course of his visit, also held meetings with Omer Bin Abdul Munim Al Zawawi, special adviser to Oman's ruler Sultan Qaboos Ibn Said Al Said and Yousuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah, Oman's minister for foreign affairs and exchanged views on bilateral relations.
