Ethiopian maids rush for passports
LARGE NUMBER OF WORKERS SEEK TO RECTIFY ILLEGAL STATUS UNDER AMNESTY
Alarge number of Ethiopian housemaids, who claim to have lost their passports, are desperately looking to get new ones so they can legalise their status under the amnesty and continue to work in the UAE.
Z.R.Y, one of 184 Ethiopian workers who announced the loss of their passports through a public notice on September 13, said: “I have been running from pillar to post to find my passport, which my exemployers kept when I joined them. I worked with them for two years and my passport was neither returned to me nor submitted to any authority. I want to apply for a new passport as I want to adjust my status under the amnesty.”
B.K.K., another housemaid who came to the UAE six years ago, said she worked with her last sponsor for just three months. “I don’t have my passport. Neither do I know who it is with. I have now found a new home where I can work and am waiting for a new passport.”
A third maid, H.G.D, said: “I have been in Dubai for three years and no longer work with my old employer. I am completing the formalities needed to apply for a new passport. I hope to get it within a month.”
To a query by Gulf News on the large number of lost passport claims, Jerusalem Amdemariam Tadesse, Consul General of Ethiopia in Dubai and the northern emirates, said: “The Consulate has created awareness among Ethiopians and advised the community to take advantage of the [amnesty] ■ opportunity from August 1 to October 31, 2018.”
She said thousands of the estimated 150,000 Ethiopians residing in the UAE had approached the consulate to take advantage of the amnesty.
Tadesse said the consulate usually hands over lost-andfound passports and support letters to those whose passports cannot be found.
“The consulate collects lost passports from the relevant authorities through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the UAE.”
She said: “There are several reasons why citizens lose their passports. The major reason is that they usually give it to their sponsors and agencies. We advise our citizens to keep their passports with themselves at all times or at least have a copy of it.”
Tadesse added the consulate is issuing one-way travel permit documents (outpass) free of charge wherever applicable.