Qatar – Around 9,000 people living illegally in Qatar are expected to leave the country under an ongoing three-month amnesty for undocumented residents, according to a senior immigration official. The amnesty runs until December 1 and allows those without the correct paperwork to live and work in Qatar to leave without legal consequences. I estimate that by the end of the amnesty, the number will reach 9,000, said Brigadier Abdullah Jaber Al-Labda, in charge of the Ministry of Interiors Search and Follow Up Department, which is processing the claims of those trying to leave. When we first started the numbers werent high but we are coming to the end of the amnesty and it will speed up. There is no official figure given for how many illegal residents live in Qatar and the issue is highly sensitive in a country regularly criticised for the treatment of its almost two million-strong foreign workforce, ever since winning the right to host the 2022 football World Cup. Qatar seeks to amend workers conditions and regulate work permits, especially the current controversial kafala sponsorship laws, which imposes restrictions
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