Around 400 stranded Pakistanis holding visit visas of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at Dubai airports fear that they may be deported for not fulfilling the latest entry conditions, reported Geo News this morning.
The Pakistan Consulate in Dubai confirmed that more than 300 Pakistanis are stuck at the Dubai airport since Tuesday. Interestingly, 80 more Pakistanis landed at Dubai airport on Wednesday evening without having appropriate travel conditions.
“These Pakistanis have been denied entry by immigration authorities because they do not comply with the current conditions of the immigration,” a senior diplomat stated in a written press statement.
UAE’s new travel advisory restrictions
According to the new travel advisory for Dubai tourists, visitors should have at least 2,000 Dirhams for their stay. Along with this amount, the visitors would have to present hotel bookings at the immigration counter or appropriately prove that they have relatives residing in the UAE.
The passengers who reached Dubai from Lahore and Multan requested the authorities to address their grievances. “Three hundred and four Pakistanis landed in Dubai on October 13 but they were denied entry into the UAE by immigration authorities,” Deputy Consul General at Pakistan Consulate Giyan Chand stated in a press statement. He further added that Pakistanis were stopped at the airport as they were not complying with the recently introduced travel conditions.
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“The consulate has been trying to resolve the issue with local authorities,” he said. The new travel conditions are introduced to keep a barrier to stop “unnecessary and extraneous” visitors from entering the Emirates, a senior travel agent said.
He said that hundreds of South Asian visitors had been stranded in the UAE who did not have sufficient funds to purchase even a single meal after the pandemic struck in the emirates. Officials informed that these stranded Pakistanis would be sent to their homeland if they would not be able to meet the entry criteria.
Indian, Pakistani airlines fly back stranded Dubai tourists
Indian and Pakistani airlines have started flying back Dubai tourists who were stranded at the Dubai International Airport after being denied entry for not following immigration requirements.
Airlines and travel agents have also begun to strictly implement the entry requirements for passengers flying on tourist visas to Dubai which include confirmed return tickets, hotel reservation and enough funds to support their stay.
Geo News had first reported about more than 180 Pakistani passengers being stuck at the Dubai International Airport since Tuesday. The number of Pakistani passengers stranded at the airport had crossed 300 on Wednesday and 500 later, according to the Consulate General of Pakistan in Dubai.
“There were around 545 passengers who were stranded,” Consul General of Pakistan in Dubai, Ahmed Amjad Ali, told Geo News today.
“Our team has been at the airport to help people around the clock. We also provided food to the stranded passengers. We are working with the airlines to send them back in batches. As of now, 169 passengers have been sent back,” he said.
Airline sources said that there were hundreds of passengers of different nationalities, mainly from the labour-sending Asian and African countries, who were denied entry. This morning, the Indian Consulate in Dubai confirmed to Gulf News that more than 100 passengers from India were among the stranded passengers.