Oman to Kerala, via UAE amnesty: Dh3,000, 8 hours over the mountains, 3 months in jail

The Indian Consulate in Dubai states that as per information available to them, at least 12 Indians have been arrested in the UAE after crossing the border illegally from Oman.

According to the consulate, the illegal expatriates are from Oman and were lured across the border by human traffickers who promised them access to the UAE amnesty scheme for illegal expats once they got here.

Indian expatriate who paid traffickers to smuggle him over the border recounts his tale

Illegal route to freedom

At least one Indian expatriate who was living illegally in Oman claims he crossed the border into the UAE, was arrested, but then sent back home after three months in jail under the last amnesty scheme in the Emirates.

According to the man from Kerala, who requested anonymity, people without a passport or valid visa or documents and with legal complications are allegedly smuggled into the UAE for a payment of Oman rial 300 (Dh3,000).

A report in a Muscat daily quoted the man as saying: “We were produced in court, which sentenced us to two months in jail for entering the country illegally.
“The amnesty scheme at the time was announced and it finally took me more than three months to reach home.”

According to the man, agents in Ruwi, Muscat, promised him he would reach Kerala, safely, in 10 days’ time.