A senior Indian Embassy official said on Tuesday, “The Indian Embassy received 4,497 passports of Indian nationals from the UAE authorities from 2011 to 2016.”

All employers should have their passports submitted to the UAE authorities after their employees have absconded, or when their businesses failed and shut down.

“We have shared the list of passports with all Indian community organizations in Abu Dhabi, which can help people who do not have internet access,” the official said.

He said, “The embassy has been coordinating with all community organizations, including the informal groupings that represent different regions of India. People tend to be in touch with community leaders from their own region and they can help and guide amnesty seekers.”

The efforts to raise the awareness has been stepped up by the embassy about the need to avail amnesty amongst residency-law violators.

A mobile number at the embassy (050-8995583) and a toll-free number (80046342) of the Indian Workers Resource Centre, a support center established by the embassy, will answer enquiries round-the-clock.

The embassy has also created a dedicated email ID (indemb.uaeamnesty18@gmail.com) for this purpose.

As Gulf News reported, the five Indian organizations registered with the UAE government had set up help desks to assist amnesty seekers. They can be contacted on the following numbers: India Social and Cultural Centre (ISC) (02-6730066), Kerala Social Centre (02-6314455), Abu Dhabi Malayalee Samajam (050-7035538 and 02-5537600), Indian Islamic Centre (02-6424488).