ISLAMABAD: A number of Pakistani nationals working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were reportedly asked to leave the country within 48 hours by the authorities.
About 20 Pakistanis who returned to Pakistan told Business Recorder that they received identical calls from an official UAE landline number asking them to leave the country within two days.
“I established my own business in the UAE and have been there for more than two decades. I did not commit any crime or violated any local law, but was simply asked to leave the country within 48 hours,” Baqir Khan maintained.
Khan arrived at Islamabad airport on November 19 via an Emerati airline with 19 other Pakistanis who had also received calls from the authorities to leave the country.
“I was lucky to return home; there are many Pakistanis who are in different UAE jails without any charge against them,” Khan alleged.
“We simply don’t know the reason but the crackdown on Pakistanis and nationals of some other countries including Lebanon, Syria and Iran began this month,” claimed Yasir Ali, a resident of Kurram tribal district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
There has been no official reaction either from the Foreign Office or the UAE authorities confirming or denying these allegations.
However, to a query from Business Recorder during weekly media briefing on October 27, 2020, Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said: “We are aware of reports about certain arrests made in the UAE”.
“Our Embassy in the UAE is in touch with the relevant authorities in this regard, and we are also in contact with the UAE Embassy in Islamabad,” he added.
The UAE recently announced its decision to suspend issuance of visit visas to a dozen countries, including Pakistan, until further notice. An international news agency, while quoting a source, claimed that the suspension of issuing visas to Muslim majority countries, including Pakistan was because of “security concerns”.
“We have seen media reports in this regards and are in contact with the UAE authorities,” Chaudhri said in response to a question on Wednesday.
Earlier last week, the spokesperson, through a statement, maintained that the suspension is not applicable on already issued visas. “We have learnt that the UAE has temporarily suspended the issuance of new visit visas until further announcement for 12 countries, including Pakistan. The suspension is not applicable on already issued visas,” he said.
He added the measure is believed to be related to the second wave of COVID-19. “We are seeking official confirmation from the concerned UAE authorities in this regard,” he added.
Kamran Ali, spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance told Business Recorder that Finance Division and Ministry of Foreign Affairs hold inter-ministerial consultations on all economic and financial matters, particularly in such cases.
“Foreign Affairs Ministry is also engaged in economic policy, besides foreign diplomacy and it will be in a better position to comment on how to deal with the situation,” he said in response to a question about the latest restrictions on Pakistanis by the UAE.
Another official in Finance Ministry said that UAE restrictions are due to COVID-19 and for a limited time. “Such timely restrictions do not hurt remittance prospects which are increasing for the last several months despite lockdowns in various countries, including in Gulf states,” he said.
The official said that it was too early to say as to how many workers would be affected due to these restrictions.
According to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) workers' remittances from UAE amounted to $504.1 million in October 2020 compared to $473 million in September 2020 and $494.3 million in October 2019.
Workers’ remittances remained above $ 2 billion for the fifth consecutive month in October 2020.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
Comments
Comments are closed.