Amnesty scheme: Tepid response from Pak workers

Manama

 Going by the numbers, the new amnesty scheme by LMRA has evoked a cold response among Pakistani workers. According to the Pakistan Embassy here, only six or seven people daily contact the embassy and 50 per cent of them are those who just come to get information about the scheme and not benefit from it.

 Community Welfare Counselor Maqsood Qadir Shah told DT News that those who approached them were being referred to the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA). He said that they were taking certain measures to create awareness about the scheme among the workers.

“The draft of a text message is being prepared covering all the necessary information about the scheme. LMRA will send that text message to all the Pakistani workers on their mobiles. The object of the SMS plan is to ensure that the basic information is delivered to all the workers so that the maximum number of illegal workers could benefit from it either by changing their legal status by joining another company or by going back to Pakistan,” Qadir Shah explained.

 He said that they were waiting for the translated copies of the amnesty law. “A comprehensive guide book on the amnesty is being prepared. Once complete it will be distributed among the Pakistani workers.” After the introduction of the Amnesty Law by LMRA recently, the embassies of Bangladesh and Philippines have been witnessing an unprecedented rush of the illegal workers, who really wanted to benefit from the scheme.

The aim of the amnesty law is to provide the illegal workers a sought after opportunity to either legalise their status by obtaining a work permit or return to their homelands without facing any fine or blacklisting. The scheme is valid till 31 December.