UAE stops issuing visas to Pakistanis over 'criminal activities' concern: Pak officials

Islamabad [Pakistan], November 27 : The United Arab Emirates has stopped issuing regular visas to Pakistani nationals, with a senior Pakistani official admitting that the move is linked to concerns about Pakistanis travelling to the Gulf nation and "getting involved in criminal activities", Dawn reported.

Additional Interior Secretary Salman Chaudhry told Pakistan's Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights on Thursday that the UAE had unofficially halted visa issuance for Pakistani passport holders, except for blue and diplomatic passports.

Addressing the committe, he further said that both the UAE and Saudi Arabia had "stopped short of imposing a complete ban" on the Pakistani passport, adding that "If a ban is imposed, getting it removed would be difficult."

Committee chairperson Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri also confirmed the remarks, saying the restriction stemmed from repeated incidents where Pakistani visitors were found engaged in unlawful activities inside the UAE, Dawn quoted.

She said the UAE imposed the bar amid growing concerns that Pakistanis arriving there were "getting involved in criminal activities, " Dawn reported.

She added that only a handful of visas had been granted recently, "and those too after much difficulty".

The issue has been simmering for months. Pakistanis faced widespread visa rejections as early as July, prompting Pak's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to raise the matter with his UAE counterpart.

During a meeting on July 11, UAE Lt Gen Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan promised "full support" but did not reverse the restrictions, Dawn reported.

Earlier in April, UAE Ambassador to Pakistan Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi had claimed that visa issues were "resolved" and that Pakistanis could access a five-year visa, a statement now contradicted by Islamabad's own officials.

Concerns over misuse of visit visas by Pakistani nationals have surfaced repeatedly.

In January, Pakistan's Senate Committee on Overseas Pakistanis was informed that some UAE visas had been "unofficially closed".

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