Hassan Cheruppa, Arshad Raza and Syeda Amtul Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – Embassies and consulates of different Asian countries breathed a sigh of relief when they heard of the extension of the grace period.
The consulates — some working overtime — were literally racing against time to serve all their people in the best possible manner. The Embassy of India welcomed the extension of grace period and expressed its gratitude to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for adopting a humanitarian approach toward this issue. The embassy also thanked all the concerned Saudi authorities for extending their wholehearted support and cooperation during this period. In a press statement, the embassy urged the Indian community to fully utilize the grace period effectively. It thanked Indian volunteers and the staff of Indian community schools for offering their services and appreciated the constructive role played by the media. The embassy urged all those Indians who have collected their emergency certificates and obtained 'exit' to leave the country immediately. Those who are in the process of obtaining 'exit' should utilize this opportunity and continue their efforts to get the same from Saudi authorities. The statement also added that the embassy is organizing a meeting of all registered volunteers at the Chancery premises at 5:00pm Wednesday. Consul General of India Faiz Ahmed Kidwai thanked King Abdullah, ministers of interior and labor for this noble gesture and humanitarian approach that gave relief to hundreds of thousands of undocumented guest workers who are yet to finish rectifying their work and residency status. “We hope that the extended period would help us to finish the pending works. We would continue the procedures without any break, keeping the same momentum,” he said. Kidwai congratulated leaders and workers of various community organizations and volunteers who extended full support to the Consulate in performing this big task. He specially thanked the media for giving wide coverage to the correction procedures. The Consul General hoped that processes will be further expedited after Ramadan. He urged the Saudi authorities to increase manpower and machines at the Deportation Center (Tarheel) to expedite the finger printing process. Replying to a question about the consulate's readiness to handle the correction procedures, which coincides with the coming Haj season, Kidwai said that the consulate's Haj plan is progressing well and the extension of the grace period won't affect it in anyway. “We have almost completed our work as per the Haj plan. We will have contingency staff to streamline both the processes,” he said. Dr. Irshad Ahmed, consul press and information at the Indian consulate said: “The consulate has distributed 23,526 emergency certificates up to June 30 to amnesty seekers while many illegal Indians are registered in consulate.” He said that around 4,536 Indians have been fingerprinted of which 2,928 have been granted final exit and 1,500 have traveled back home. “Extension in grace period is very good news; now we will be able serve more people,” he said. Aftab Khokhar, Consul General of Pakistan, said: “We are grateful to King Abdullah for extending the grace period. It is purely a humanitarian gesture that will leave a positive impact.” He added that media played a very important role in raising the issue at different forums. He also acknowledged Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry for its role in tackling the issue. “We are geared up to facilitate our people finish their correction procedures and will finish our work on time as we have already made all preparations for it. We are looking forward to continue working with the Saudi authorities so that we can finish our work on time,” said Khokhar. On the grace period coinciding with the Haj season, Khokhar said: “We have streamlined the procedures. There won't be any problem. We'll handle Haj in a very easy manner. We have already received a lot of support from our Haj ministry. In case of emergency, we will arrange/hire people from Pakistan.” Dr. Mazhar, consul welfare, said: “In the light of the royal directive, we will do our best to the utmost satisfaction of our countrymen as there are still hundreds of people who have not yet been corrected their status. They were afraid of being sent back. But now with the royal directive of further extension of grace period, we will facilitate them in all ways possible.” He added: “Keeping in view of the policy by Saudi officials to regularize the status of violating workers, we will continue working with the same zeal and will try our level best to get it done within the same period so that our countrymen get their status corrected and live and work here without any fear.” Syed Tahseem-ul-Haq Haqqi, vice consul Welfare, said; “We have issued 14,000 out passes during this grace period. Yesterday (Monday), it was our day at Tarheel and 550 Pakistanis have been fingerprinted. We are working hard to serve our community. Extension of the grace period is a good chance for all who were not able to avail the services due to shortage of time.” Sri Lankan Consul General Dr. Adambawa Uthumalebbe, said, “The move to provide extension till Nov. 3 is very good… we all were requesting it and the authorities have listened to us.” “We all have to be thankful to Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for this generous act.,” Dr. Adambawa said, adding, “We had more than 4,000 people who needed to get the exit visa, and we can now do it, and the extension will also be helpful for us to assist those people seeking to rectify their situation.” When asked how will the mission cope with the Ramadan and Haj rush with the extended deadline, Dr. Adambawa said, “Tomorrow our consulate officials will be meeting with the passport department to chalk out a program.” Sunarko, acting Consul General of Indonesia, said: “We want to make maximum use of the extension period as the consulate needs to do a lot with regard to regulating the procedures. We appreciate the King's keenness in getting rectified status of all foreigners' in the Kingdom with a humane and kind approach toward the issue,” he said. According to Sunarko, the amnesty extension gives a very good opportunity to complete the process of status correction. “We have already processed 17,000 applications among some 83,000 people who had registered at the consulate. There are three phases in the case of those Indonesians who plan to leave the Kingdom for good: registration, printing of documents and distribution of final travel documents,” he said, adding that more than 5,000 documents are being distributed on a daily basis. Sunarko said that the consulate is working round the clock and reinforced staff with bringing in of 40 staffers from Jakarta. He also noted that the consulate's Haj preparations are progressing well as scheduled. Bangladeshi Consul General Md. Nazmul Islam said: “We have registered all the people who contacted us, some of them traveled, but a huge number of people are still trying to complete their procedure. We are very, very happy for the extension of the grace period because many amnesty seekers are still waiting for their turn. We are very grateful to King Abdullah for his kindness in declaring the amnesty and then extending it.”
