Farewell to Dubai |
THE strain had been there for a while when reports emerged that Pakistanis were being rounded up in the UAE and deported. The details, though, have not been verified and, yesterday, Pakistan’s interior ministry strongly denied accusations of “country- or sect-specific” expulsions of Pakistanis from the UAE or anywhere for that matter. It posted on X that it was aware of the “speculative reporting in sections of media especially social media about targeted deportations of Pakistani nationals from brotherly Islamic country of UAE”. Earlier, the Foreign Office spokesperson, too, when asked about the “unusually high number” of emergency exit documents issued by the Pakistani mission in the UAE, had stated these were on account of “administrative actions, including immigration status violation and other legal infractions”.
On his part, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, too, expressed solidarity with the UAE by condemning the missile and drone attack, purportedly carried out by Iran, on its soil.
While it is difficult to verify the reports of deportations of Pakistanis, it was evident that relations between the two nations were on edge, especially when, in early April, the UAE asked........