DUBAI: Pakistan’s diplomatic mission in Dubai has requested authorities in Islamabad to arrange a charter flight to bring back more than 500 Pakistanis who have been denied entry in the United Arab Emirates since October 13 for not complying with immigration requirements, a senior Pakistani official said on Thursday.
The country’s consul general in Dubai, Ahmed Amjad Ali, told Arab News 545 Pakistanis were stopped at the Dubai Airport on October 13 for not complying with entry requirements that include carrying at least AED2,000, a return ticket and hotel reservations.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the consulate general said 304 of the passengers were on visit visa while 241 were on tourist visas and had reached Dubai on Pakistan International Airlines, Air Blue, Fly Dubai and Emirates flights.
“These passengers were stopped at the airport because many of them did not meet the basic entry criteria. We have already sent back 169 of them in small batches,” Ali told Arab News.
He added that he had spoken to Pakistani authorities and asked them to arrange a special return flight for the people who were still at the airport.
“Since we can only send back a few at a time based on flight availability so I have requested the government to arrange a special aircraft for the remaining 366 people,” said Ali. “There are a few others who have been allowed to enter Dubai on humanitarian basis because they were ill or aged.”
The consul general explained that the rules by the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs in Dubai were not new but were being implemented more stringently now.
“I have been in talks with immigration officials and have been informed by them that COVID-19 cases are going up, so authorities have tightened screening for people coming in, especially job seekers, to ensure that they are able to sustain themselves in the long run,” he said.
Ali said the entry requirements were not Pakistan-specific, adding that passengers from many other countries had also been deported on the same grounds.
Shahid Mughal, a PIA manager in Dubai, said meetings were being held to resolve the issue at the earliest. “All passengers had valid visas when they were allowed to board and we are in constant touch with them at the airport to facilitate them,” he said.
Nasir, a stranded passenger, who only wanted to be identified by his first name, told Arab News he was coming from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and wanted to stay with his relatives in Dubai.
“I have been sitting here for the past two days and they have told us today that we will be sent back,” he said, adding that neither his travel agent nor the airline had informed him about basic requirements before boarding.
“If I had known, I would not have travelled like this. I wanted to stay with my relatives,” Nasir said. “We are just getting one meal a day at the moment, though we have been told that we will be provided more.”