India-UAE meet to push for inmate transfer

As per the estimates, there are around 1,100 Indian prisoners serving in the UAE jails.

A high-level Indian delegation will meet the UAE authorities next month to discuss a joint plan to transfer over 70 prisoners to India as per an existing prisoner exchange agreement between the two countries.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Smita Pant, deputy chief of mission at the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, said an Indian delegation from the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs will meet UAE officials in early August "to take our ongoing discussions forward" about the prisoner swap.

"The (prisoner exchange) agreement was signed in 2011 to facilitate the social rehabilitation of sentenced persons in their own countries. The issue of transfer of sentenced persons has been discussed with the UAE side from time to time," said Pant.

As per the bilateral agreement signed between the UAE and India in 2011, Indians sentenced to jail for white-collar crimes can opt to serve their prison term in Indian jails.

Prisoners convicted for criminal offenses are excluded from this swap deal.

As per the estimates, there are around 1,100 Indian prisoners serving in the UAE jails.

Though the agreement came into force in 2013, no prisoner has been till date transferred from the UAE.

According to official sources, the prisoner swap got caught up in red tape as logistics and other formalities were not worked out.

In what is expected to give a push to the eight-year-old agreement, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan told the Indian Parliament on Monday that the UAE and India have initiated joint action to implement the bilateral agreement on 'Transfer of Sentenced Persons'.

"The agreement includes, inter-alia, its general principles, conditions for the transfer of prisoners and obligations to furnish information, among other provisions," the minister said in reply to a question by a Lok Sabha member, Rahul Kaswan.

Muraleedharan said the first swap deal will include the proposal received from the Consulate-General of India in Dubai for the repatriation of 77 Indian inmates to their home country to serve the remainder of their sentences in India.

"The proposal is being processed by the authorities concerned in the UAE and India in accordance with the procedures laid down in the agreement," Muraleedharan told the house.

Acting Consul-General Neeraj Rawal told Khaleej Times that the list of 77 prisoners was drawn and finalized in October 2018.

"As per instructions from the Indian Government, we had collected the consent of prisoners who are interested to serve their term in Indian jails during our regular prison visits. A total of 77 inmates from all UAE prisons signed the consent form," said Rawal.

According to him, the number of prisoners who signed up for the swap would vary now as some would have finished their term or got their release.

"We are expecting the numbers to decrease. Fresh cases will not be considered as we will first implement the existing list," said the diplomat.