LAHORE – At the time when thousands of Pakistani youngsters are seeking jobs abroad to earn their livelihood, United Arab Emirates (UAE) government is going to deport about 100,000 Pakistanis for overstay, sources in the Interior Ministry confided to The Nation on Wednesday.
The sources claimed that arrival of the said deportees would start any time this month as the UAE government had taken up the issue with the Pakistan government. The UAE government has told Pakistan that two-month amnesty for all illegal immigrants in its country had been announced.
The sources further revealed that special arrangements had been made at the embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate general in Dubai to provide smooth services of issuing travel documents to all the Pakistani illegal immigrants who are benefiting from the amnesty from December 4, 2012, to February 3, 2013.
An officer of the Interior Ministry, seeking anonymity, said the UAE government, through a letter, had asked the Pakistan government to remain in touch with it for the smooth process of the issue. During the amnesty process, travel documents of the illegal immigrants like passport, CNIC and visa would be checked to ascertain their nationality while doubtful cases would be sent to the Interior Ministry of Pakistan for verification.
The sources further claimed that the ministry would have to confirm the status of the referred cases. If the ministry failed to do so within 15 days, the UAE government would issue travel documents to the applicants claiming to be Pakistani nationals. An FIA officer said that majority of these Pakistanis were youngsters working there for minor wages like dishwashers, salesmen and others. He said these people had paid reasonable amounts to travel agents to get visas of UAE. When they could not find jobs as promised by the travel agents, they stayed there illegally to earn the money they had paid for their visas.  The UAE government has also asked the Pakistan government to make arrangements at all international airports and legal entry points to deal with the deportees in such a large number. The Pakistan government has also been asked to appoint its focal person at Dubai to handle the whole process of the amnesty in the UAE. When contacted, a senior FIA officer said the deportees were expected to arrive this month, but no exact date had been given by UAE this regard. He said if these people arrived in Pakistan, it would be the biggest ever batch of deportees in the country.
To a question why the Pakistan was not taking up the case with UAE to regularise these illegal immigrants, an immigration expert said that as per international law, a state was responsible for health, safety and travel back to homeland of an illegal immigrant.
, but no one could force any country to legalise an illegal citizen of a country.
Answering a question, an immigration officer said these deportees were not liable to any further punishment in Pakistan.