Initiative to benefit labourers who had to take a day off to travel to Dubai The first mobile consular services camp for Pakistanis in the northern emirates was held last Friday (December 26) at a school in Ras Al Khaimah.
The next camp will be held on January 9 in Sharjah.
The mobile consular services initiative will benefit Pakistanis who had to normally take a day off from work to travel to Dubai early in the morning to reach the consulate and finish their work before closing time.
Javed Jalil Khattak, Consul-General of Pakistan in the UAE, and consular Hussain Mohammad travelled to Ras Al Khaimah as part of the first camp.
Dozens of people on Friday utilised services such as those related to the attestation of documents and the NICOP (National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis).
Mobile units offering consular services will reach Pakistanis in Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah on the weekends.
The camps offer all consulate services, except passport services, Abdul Wahid Khan, press consul, Consulate General of Pakistan, said.
The mobile units are connected to Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority’s network system.
There are no additional charges for availing mobile unit services.
Khan said: “Many of the applicants from the Northern Emirates are labourers, who had to take an expensive taxi ride to Dubai, since inter-emirate buses don’t start so early.”
“Being daily wage-earners, they lost a day’s pay for taking a day off for the trip. Seeing their hardship, the consulate decided to reach out to them.”
The mobile units are expected to normally work from 10am to 5pm.
Khan added that the number of applicants vary depending on which emirate the camp is held in as some areas have a higher number of Pakistani residents than others.
The northern emirates also include Ajman and Umm Al Quwain. Dubai is the seat of the Pakistani consulate that caters to Northern Emirates as well, while the Pakistani embassy is located in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi. The arrangement is typical of other countries’ missions as well in the UAE.