Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government is gearing itself to face the challenge of receiving an estimated 20,000 Malayali expatriates from the United Arab Emirates, who have to leave the West-Asian nation before April 2003 under a general amnesty announced by the administration there.

A meeting of the state cabinet yesterday discussed the issue and constituted a cabinet subcommittee to attend to their problems and to provide facilities for their return to Kerala, which accounts for the largest number of expatriates being sent out of the UAE.

Chief Minister A K Antony says the subcommittee will make efforts to do whatever is possible to those returning from the Gulf at the state government level, besides coordinating with the central ministries concerned, to reduce their hardships. “The emphasis will mainly be on making proper travel arrangements to cope with the massive evacuation exercise.”

The Kerala government views with anxiety the UAE’s decision to send back 40,000 Indians working in the Emirates, says Antony. “Out of the 40,000 returnees, Malayalis constitute the majority.”

The ‘inflow’ is to begin from February 2003. Sources say the situation will become complicated this time in the context of the UAE government’s decision not to allow change of sponsorship to remain there again.

The cabinet subcommittee constituted comprises Finance Minister K Sankaranarayanan, Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty, Non-resident Keralites Affairs Minister M M Hassan, Revenue Minister K M Mani and Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar.