President Khalifa approves India-UAE prisoner transfer deal

DUBAI // The President, Sheikh Khalifa, has ratified a prisoner-swap deal with India.

The process to select inmates eligible to serve the remainder of their terms at home will soon begin after Sheikh Khalifa issued a decree today.

The deal was signed by the two countries in November 2011 in New Delhi.

“The agreement comes from the desire of the UAE Government and the government of the republic of India to facilitate the social rehabilitation of persons convicted,” the Dubai Media Office said.

Indian authorities believe there are up to 1,200 of their citizens serving time in UAE prisons.

Under the treaty, inmates must volunteer to serve the rest of their sentences in India before a transfer request is raised.

Those convicted of drug offences, financial crimes and those required to pay blood money in murder cases are not eligible.

An Indian embassy spokeswoman said the procedures to introduce the transfer would now begin.

“We have been keenly waiting for the ratification and the process will now start where we will work out the procedure of how to transfer the prisoners in a mutually agreed format,” she said.

“The cases of the prisoners will be examined and it will be our effort to expedite the process.”

Aid workers said it was too early to say when the transfers would start.

“It’s not a carte-blanche transfer. It will be on a case-by-case basis as the merit of each will have to be examined,” said K Kumar, head of the Indian Community Welfare Committee.

"Fines, diya [blood money] and financial commitments must be cleared for prisoners to be eligible. It will take some time because India will have to confirm arrangements and space with jail authorities at home."

The decree was welcomed by former inmates.

“Inside jail, the men are anxiously waiting for this news,” said Ambotti, who was freed two years ago after serving time for a fatal accident.

“They cry to speak to family and phone calls are expensive, so they will be 100 per cent happy to go to a prison near home. When I was in jail, everyone read the newspapers to find out whether it would actually happen.”

Others said those inmates serving time for crimes such as human trafficking or forcing women into prostitution, and who had lied about their crimes to relatives, would prefer to complete their sentences in the UAE.

“Many prisoners know they will be in more trouble if they go home,” said Anil, a former inmate who was jailed for his involvement in a road accident.

“They will be in trouble with their family and the entire village will know they were involved in bad business. Their relatives think they came abroad to earn for their family and then got caught in an accident case.

“But if they know they tricked women, people at home will not be forgiving. Prisoners in robbery and murder cases will not want to go back.”

The treaty says cases will be considered only where the court ruling is “definitive, enforceable, there is no pending trial or any legal measure against the convicted person in the state where the judgment was ordered”.

The treaty also states that, “if a convicted person’s age, physical or mental condition does not allow him to take an independent decision, another person can be appointed to legally make the transfer request on his behalf”.

Only inmates with more than six months of their sentences remaining will be eligible.

The prisoners' country will cover transport costs.

rtalwar@thenational.ae