Wednesday, 8 January, 2003, 09:01 GMT

By Mary Hennock BBC News Online business reporter

Illegal workers have been queuing up for help to leave the United Arab Emirates as a four-month amnesty gets underway, foreign diplomats in the country have said.

Migrant workers in UAE

India - 800,000

Bangladesh - 300,000

Sri Lanka - 160,000

Source: Embassies' estimates

The authorities have said illegal workers can leave without risking fines or jail on arrival at a port or airport until the end of April 2003.

About 300,000 illegal workers are expected to leave, a spokeswoman for the UAE embassy in London told BBC News Online. The country held one previous amnesty in 1996.

Foreign diplomats in the UAE said they did not expect the risk of war with Iraq, at the other end of Arabian Gulf, to create a rush to leave or a shortage of future job applicants.

Essential workers

The Middle Eastern country depends on foreign workers, who make up 75% of the 2.8 million people who live there. Most do menial jobs in construction, agriculture or domestic work.

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka supply the majority - about 1.5 million workers altogether - though large numbers also come from Indonesia and the Philippines.

About 200 Bangladeshis a day have turned to their embassy for help to leave since the amnesty began a week ago, the deputy chief of mission at the Bangladesh embassy in UAE told BBC News Online.

Indian diplomats also reported up to 200 applicants for amnesty a day, while the Sri Lankan embassy has received 300 people during the week. more

-- Anonymous, January 08, 2003