(a) whether many Indians working in Dubai were arrested by the
officials of Dubai;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) whether the Government raised this issue with the officials
of Dubai;
(d) if so, the reaction of the Dubai officials thereto; and
(e) the steps taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF OVERSEAS INDIAN AFFAIRS(SHRI VAYALAR RAVI)
(a) to (d): Indian Consulate General in Dubai has informed that
the UAE government does not share information on the number of Indians
arrested and under police detention. However, the matters relating to
arrest of Indian are taken up appropriately at the bilateral level from
time to time. As per information available with the Consulate, there
were 567 Indian inmates in the Central Dubai Prison on 30th June, 2011.
The crimes for which Indians are in prisons include, murder, financial
cases, adultery, bribery, theft, illegal stay etc.
(e): Consular visits are undertaken once a week to the Dubai Central
Prison to ascertain the welfare of the Indian prisoners, including
Indian women prisoners. The Government of India runs ‘Indian Workers
Resource Centre’ in Dubai which provides free legal counselling to Indian
nationals in UAE. Periodically, legal Counselling is also extended to
Indian prisoners in Dubai Central Prison by the Consulate. The Consulate
also provides air tickets to Indian inmates to return home when requested.
The Consulate also facilitates travel documents to Indian inmates to return
to India on the completion of their jail terms.