look news india
Pakistani citizens, who have been working with sweat and blood for years in the Gulf country United Arab Emirates (UAE), are currently facing a mountain of troubles. A large number of Pakistani Shia Muslims are being forcibly deported from UAE. The situation has become so bad that people who have been working and doing business there for decades are forced to return to Pakistan empty handed overnight without taking their belongings, without accounting for the company and without leaving behind their lifetime’s hard earned money deposited in bank accounts. This step being taken by the Gulf countries amidst the ongoing Iran war in West Asia (Middle East) has created a deep fear and unrest within the Shia community of Pakistan. Considering the sensitivity of the matter, now the global human rights organization ‘Human Rights Watch’ (HRW) has also started investigating this entire incident at the ground level, calling it extremely ‘worrying’.
After all, why did this action suddenly start against Pakistani Shias after the Iran war?
According to an investigative report by the international news agency ‘Reuters’, the process of arrest and deportation against Pakistani citizens has intensified mainly since February 28. Actually, this is the same time when America and Israel launched military attacks against Iran. After this, in retaliation, when Iran launched missile and drone attacks on UAE targets, the security tension in the entire Gulf region reached its peak. Shia religious and political leaders of Pakistan allege that citing this geopolitical conflict and internal security, the UAE administration has started selectively expelling people of their community from the country.
More than 7,500 people were expelled overnight, only 1,500 people from one district came back
According to the internal database prepared by Pakistan’s Shia political organization ‘Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen’, more than 7,500 Pakistani Shias have been deported from different cities of UAE since February 28. The organization’s chief spokesperson Mohsin Abidi made a big claim and said that the actual figure on the ground could be much higher because many people are not sharing their information out of fear. At the same time, according to a social leader from Kurram district, a Shia-dominated area of Pakistan, 1,500 working youth from his area alone have been sent back home from the UAE since the beginning of tension in the Gulf.
“Do you provide secret funds to Iran?” — Strange questions are being asked during interrogation.
The ordeal of the people who returned after being deported from Dubai and Abu Dhabi is extremely horrifying and shocking. Reuters has closely examined the immigration documents and flight details of 103 Pakistanis deported from the UAE. Of these, 24 victims cried and said that they were not given time to withdraw their savings of years of hard work or even to pack their belongings from the room.
A 41-year-old victim, resident of Chakwal, told that UAE security officials first scrutinized the details of his salary and remittances to Pakistan and then asked a direct question – “Do you provide financial help or funds to Iran?” At the same time, another Pakistani, who was posted as a senior manager in Dubai Metro for about 16 years, said that the police suddenly snatched his phone, handcuffed him and after keeping him in unknown custody for 9 days, put him in a packed dark bus and left him directly to be deported to the airport.
Husband and wife separated: Woman who went to update visa made to sit in flight
Educated IT professionals are also becoming victims of this action. Ali Ahmed Naqvi and his wife Quratul Ain went to work in the technology sector of Dubai in the year 2024 after getting a good job. Naqvi said that his wife was detained on April 18 when she had gone to the government office to update her work visa to join a new job. He was deported directly from there. After this, when Naqvi reached the airport to return to Pakistan in search of his wife, he was also detained just before boarding the flight and without giving any reason, he was deported to Pakistan along with 93 other Shia citizens in a special plane.
UAE government maintains silence, but victims angry with Pakistan government’s statement
The stand of the governments of both the countries on this entire international dispute is as follows:
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Silence of United Arab Emirates (UAE): The UAE Foreign Ministry has flatly refused to react or comment on the international media’s questions related to this large-scale deportation and allegations of targeting the Shia community.
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Strange claim of Pakistan government: Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Home Ministry issued a very protective statement saying that UAE has not expelled any citizen from the country on the basis of his sect. According to Pakistan, these deportations were only due to violation of local visa and immigration rules of UAE.
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Secret investigation started in Islamabad: However, contrary to government claims, a senior Pakistani diplomat admitted on the condition of anonymity that after the sudden return of such a large number of people (especially from the same community), Islamabad is reviewing and discussing this entire serious situation with the UAE government through backchannel.
Remittance stalled: Thousands of families face severe financial crisis
This sudden eviction from UAE has broken the back of the economy of many districts of Pakistan. Most of the returnees were the sole earning members of their households, whose remittances supported the entire expenses of their aging parents and children in Pakistan. Now, due to sudden loss of jobs, freezing of deposit accounts in UAE banks and returning to their homeland without any preparation, thousands of these families are facing a dire economic crisis of livelihood and livelihood.
