UAE Visa Ban Begins To Pinch Pakistan; 3000 Jobs Misplaced In First Week As Indian Employees Rejoice

Even earlier than the normalization of the UAE and Israel relations was introduced on August 14, 2020, there was a rider. The deal, because it seems, required Pakistan to simply accept Israel and a direct menace to it was put throughout by way of an article revealed in an Israeli newspaper Hareetz on August 11, 2020, titled ‘Pakistan’s Rejection of Israel Threatens Pakistani Lives’.

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Pakistan didn’t relent, and the consequence was the UAE gifting Israel an embassy on Pakistan’s Independence Day. For Israel, because it will get clearer daily, Arab states are a joyride. The one stumbling block is nuclear-armed Pakistan.

The noose, subsequently, needed to be tightened round Pakistan, with the UAE beginning by saying a visa ban on Pakistanis on November 24, 2020, within the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The UAE’s response has been so harsh that Pakistan was discovered grappling with it, because the announcement obtained public by way of the media and the UAE didn’t even talk it by way of official channels.

No marvel, the shocks have began to be felt throughout Islamabad as The Specific Tribune reported on November 25, 2020 that about 3000 Pakistanis have been stripped of their job visas by the UAE. 

It has come to gentle that because the ban had come into impact on November 18, 2020, a recruitment company in Rawalpindi alone has misplaced 3,000 jobs, and guess who has been benefitted from this? India! It is a report from only one metropolis from Pakistan and, clearly, the identical may be anticipated from its different cities too, and really quickly. Thus, it may be simply understood that for Pakistan which is already reeling below excessive financial situations, the UAE transfer, which is nothing in need of snatching the very bread from the mouths of Pakistani residents, is a humongous loss for the nation.

The report highlights how Pakistan has been additional cornered by the UAE initiative as initially, it was reported that the suspension was solely restricted to vacationer visas, however the authorities have now confirmed that work and employment visas have additionally been banned until additional discover.

A letter issued by the Dubai Airport Free zone says: “As per the newest round launched by the Immigration Division Entry Allow Purposes (for people exterior the nation), functions for brand new employment visa and new go to visa (lengthy, brief and vacationer), can be suspended till additional discover.”

All of the 13 nations which have been debarred from entry into the UAE are Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Yemen, and different Muslim international locations, and what’s frequent amongst these nations is that none of them have accepted Israel.

Turkey has an Israeli embassy, however the UAE proper now’s staunchly in opposition to Turkey and has aligned with Greece. It has additionally provided F-16 fighters to Greece in opposition to Turkey within the Mediterranean sea, in help of France. This alliance was counterbalanced with Russia saying its navy drills with Turkey on either side of Cyprus – the point of interest of the battle.

Pakistanis, however, have been struggling to come back to phrases with this surprising transfer with its International Workplace nonetheless feigning some leisure as its assertion final week had instructed that the ban was solely on go to visas and believed to be linked to the second wave of Covid-19. However, an Al Jazeera on November 25, 2020, mentioned that an “unnamed official had claimed the transfer was linked to safety issues”, though these safety issues weren’t elaborated.

Sources in Islamabad mentioned Pakistan was not formally intimated concerning the suspension. The authorities have been making an attempt to achieve out to UAE authorities to determine the explanation. Right here the true footprints of Israel may be simply deciphered as Pakistan had lengthy been supplying its manpower to the UAE, and this can be a new cost, and if the sign is to be comprehended, then very quickly related notifications are prone to be displayed from all the Gulf-22 states! 

The alibi of Corona-virus is, subsequently, a hogwash, as visas are allowed from India, which has round 44,000 instances per day and Israel is struggling with the very best per capita Coronavirus infections on the planet, as reported by the Occasions of Israel on September 4, 2020.

Absolutely, as Pakistan senator Anwer Baig has maintained that the suspension of labor or employment visa ban is “Pakistan particular”, he additionally dished out knowledge, informing that the UAE is residence to tens of hundreds of Pakistani staff. These staff have been employed in several sectors and ship overseas remittances, thought of key to the nation’s overseas trade reserves.

In 2016, Pakistan despatched 3,26,000 staff to the UAE, 2,90,000 in 2016, 2,75,000 in 2017, 2,08,000 in 2018, 2,11,000 in 2019 and even in the course of the Covid-19 outbreak till October, 51,000 Pakistanis went to the Gulf nation for employment, who ship near $Four billion remittances again to Pakistan.

India is extraordinarily comfortable as it’s turning out to be the last word substitute of Pakistan, which has been going through the wrath of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), since August 6, 2020, when its overseas minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi introduced to ‘distance’ from the KSA. Additionally, the nation is now to return the remaining two of the $Three billion mortgage again to the KSA, based on a report in Enterprise Commonplace on November 7, 2020. 

The author is a former State Data Commissioner, India. He’s a media analyst and writes on worldwide politics.