UAE ambassador summoned to foreign office on forced deportation of Shia Muslims

Pakistan has expressed concerns over “forced deportation” of Pakistani Shia Muslims from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by summoning the UAE Ambassador to the Foreign Office.

It is relevant to add here that the Shiite News was first website that broke the news of forced deportation of Shia Muslims of Pakistan and other countries.

Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani said that the UAE Ambassador to Pakistan was summoned to the Foreign Office a few days back and the issue of forced deportation of Pakistani Shia Muslims from the UAE was taken up with him and the government’s concerns were conveyed to him.

A number of Pakistani Shiites working in various emirates of the UAE told this scribe that they were being victimized for the only reason that they are Shia Muslims. They said that thousands had already been deported from various emirates of the UAE. The deported Shiites possess legal residency documents and majority belongs to Kurrum Agency, Parachinar of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

“Yes, we are aware of the fact, which is of course a very serious matter. We summoned the UAE Ambassador to Foreign Office a few days ago and the issue was taken up with him,” Jilani said. He said that the UAE envoy assured him that he would convey the concerns of the government of Pakistan to his government and assured that they would look into the matter.

Jilani further said that Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE had also raised the issue with the authorities concerned and expressed Pakistan government’s concerns to the UAE authorities.

“This is a serious issue particularly in a country which we consider our good friend and having good brotherly relations with. We’ve conveyed to the UAE authorities that the issue will create negative image of their country in Pakistan,” Jilani added.

Member National Assembly from Kurrum Agency, Sajid Hussain Turi confirmed to this correspondent that Pakistanis, particularly from Turi and Bangash Shia tribes of Kurrum Agency areas, were being deported.

Turi recently visited the UAE along with Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions Eng, Shaukatullah Khan (who has been made Governor Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa now) and another MNA from Orakzai Agency Jawad Hussain. They met Pakistan Ambassador to the UAE Jamil Ahmad Khan. He said the matter was also of concern for the Pakistan Embassy and they had taken up the issue with the UAE authorities.

He also revealed that more than 550 people belonging to Kurrum Agency had recently been expelled and 600 more have received telephone calls from the immigration authorities to leave the UAE forthwith.

He also claimed that prior to deportation the Pakistanis were sent to jail where they were humiliated by shaving their heads and eyebrows. “I conveyed my concerns to Pakistan’s envoy over such treatment of Pakistani people in the UAE,” he said, adding that upon his request, the envoy deputed Pakistan Consular General in Dubai Dr Riaz to investigate into the matter, who also confirmed that Shia Pakistanis were being humiliated by the UAE authorities prior to their deportation.

He said that Ambassador Khan informed them that he had written to the Foreign Office suggesting that the UAE Ambassador be summoned and a serious protest over the issue be lodged. Furthermore, the MNA said that the envoy also revealed that the Pakistan Embassy had got NOC (no objection certificate) from the Foreign Office and Interior Ministry to lodge a serious protest with Foreign Ministry of the UAE.

This scribe talked to various Pakistanis in Dubai and Abu Dhabi who were worried for their future, saying that deportation would not only compel them to suffer a huge loss in their investments but also hurt the national exchequer in terms of lower foreign remittances.

They said that they were being asked to leave their businesses and evacuate properties within hours.

“I received a call for my ill cousin Arif Hussain who is currently on ventilator at the ICU (intensive care unit) of Sheikh Khalifa Hospital in Abu Dhabi after surgery. The immigration authorities just left a message to Hussain to leave the country as soon as he recovers consciousness,” an attendant and cousin of Arif Hussain, who wished not to be named, told this scribe. Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, which met with Senator Afrasyab Khattak in the chair on Friday, also expressed serious concerns over the forced deportation of Pakistanis from the UAE.

Recently, the UAE has expelled thousands of long-term Lebanese Shia residents from the country over their presumed affiliation with Hezbollah