Historic India-UAE prisoner transfer

An agreement between India and the UAE allowing prisoner transfers between both countries is in the offing, M.K. Lokesh, the Indian ambassador to the UAE said.The agreement is ready and is awaiting the signatures of the Interior Ministers of the two countries, he said. As reported earlier, once the agreement is inked, Indian prisoners in the UAE jails may opt to complete their prison terms back home, if they wish to do so and Emirati prisoners in Indian jails may opt to be in UAE jails."However, there are few conditions to be met for the prisoners to qualify for this. In about 70 to 80 per cent cases of Indian prisoners [in] UAE jails at present, they will be able to opt for it," Lokesh said.While there are as many as 1,200 Indian prisoners in UAE jails, serving time for various offences, there is just one Emirati prisoner incarcerated in India.It is understood that those sentenced to death and those involved in financial crimes will not be allowed to serve their sentence elsewhere.Lieutenant-General Shakh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE Minister of Interior, is expected to visit India soon to sign the agreement, Lokesh said.Meanwhile, the Indian ambassador said that they were considering expanding the scope of the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF), as only Dh2.3 million of the nearly Dh10 million collected over three years had been utilised so far."The ICWF has funds of Dh7.5 million at present. The fund was jointly collected by the Indian missions here by way of Dh10 service charge for consular services," the Indian ammbassador said.ICWF funds have been used to repatriate stranded workers and also provide help for those who haven't been paid. Lokesh said they were hoping to use the funds for more community welfare initiatives once they get the approval of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA).The 17 Indians who recently were spared the death penalty for killing a Pakistani man, will now head to the Sharjah Civil Court.The 17 men were members of a gang involved in bootlegging and were convicted of causing the death of a man during a clash with a rival gang in January 2009 in Sharjah.All of the accused were sentenced to death initially, but later won reprieve after paying blood money of Dh3.4 million.However, two brothers who were allegedly injured in the same incident filed a petition in court last month demanding compensation.A reconciliation committee set to examine the compensation claim failed to reach agreement Monday, which means a formal case will be registered at the civil court now, Bindu Suresh, the lawyer of the 17 men appointed by the Indian government, told Gulf News yesterday