UPDATE: FG TO WORK WITH UAE GOVERNMENT TO HELP STRANDED NIGERIANS IN DUBAI
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On Sunday, the Nigerian government said that it was coordinating with UAE officials to help Nigerians stuck in Dubai.
A recent viral video on social media featured women identifying themselves as Nigerians, pleading with the government to help them and accusing the Nigerian embassy in Dubai of being unconcerned with their condition.
Following the release of the video, Francisca Omayuli stated in a press release on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Nigerian Mission has been working hard to compile the information of the stranded Nigerians in order to issue Emergency Travel Certificates (ETC) to those who lack proper identification.
She added that the Nigerian mission has been assisting more than 300 Nigerians being held at the holding facility run by the Al Aweer Immigration Office, calling the accusation against it “absolutely baseless and deceptive.” This is pending the competent authorities’ examination of their cases and the conclusion of the legal proceedings prior to repatriation.
They are being held for a variety of reasons, including overstaying their visas, losing their passports, not having the proper papers (particularly in the case of newborns), and unresolved Emirati police cases.
Mrs. Omayuli claims that people who have overstayed their visas and are required by law to pay fines will have their immigration paperwork processed by the UAE authorities. There are fines of over $10,000 per person against some of the affected Nigerians.
However, the UAE government is willing to waive the fines for those who are unable to pay, but with the attendant penalty of 10 years ban from the UAE.
“Those in police custody for other alleged offenses must be cleared, while those without documentation or means of identification, especially infants will go through legal procedures for rectification,” she said.
Affected NIgerians cannot be repatriated until the processes are concluded by the UAE authorities, Mrs Omayuli noted.
In a similar vein, the Nigerian Consulate in Dubai has reportedly begun to profile some of the stranded Nigerians, according to the chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
She claims that after the profiling procedure is complete, the consulate and embassy would inform the minister of foreign affairs and take the necessary procedures.
Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa urged Nigerians to follow the law no matter where they are and to refrain from unauthorized migration, adding that if they must travel, they should do it through the proper channels.
Nigerians in Dubai have made headlines for a variety of reasons.
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