More than forty thousand illegal Bangladeshi living at United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been brought under general amnesty.

Illegal migrants from different countries living in the UAE got the opportunity to leave the country without fine or being legal under a three-month-long general amnesty from August 1 to October 31.

In this regard, Bangladesh ambassador to UAE Mohammad Emran said, "The number of illegal Bangladeshi workers in the UAE is more than total migrants from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Philippines and other countries."

An uncertainty was created whether the expatriates would get their passports within three months of general amnesty. As the UAE government has agreed to extend the period of amnesty, Bangladeshi workers have heaved a sigh of relief. The general amnesty is going to expire December 31.

Over 35,000 illegal expatriates were issued Machine Readable Passports from Abu Dhabi embassy and Dubai consulate while around five to six thousand expatriates were granted outpasses to return to Bangladesh in the past five months.

Ambassador Imran said that the number of illegal Bangladeshis in UAE is more than that of countries such as India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Phillipines.

(Featured image : dailyasianage.com)