The Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development has been informed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has not imposed restrictions on work visas for Pakistani nationals.
“If Pakistanis face issues getting a work visa, it would be forwarded to the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis,” standing committee chairman Senator Zeeshan Khanzada said on Wednesday.
The statement follows media reports alleging that the UAE proposed a visa ban on Pakistanis, citing an increase in nationals involved in begging.
In efforts to discourage the trend, Director General of the Bureau of Immigration Muhammad Tayyab last month informed the standing committee that Pakistani citizens travelling to the Gulf state would now require a police verification report.
This directive applies to all travel cases, ensuring that no individual departs for any Gulf country without proper clearance, he said in his earlier statement, adding that all agents facilitating travel to the UAE were instructed to adhere to the new requirement.
During Wednesday’s meeting, the travel agents briefed the committee members on the issue regarding the alleged ban on UAE visas.
Aisam Baig, an Overseas Employment Promoter (OEP), informed the committee that UAE visas had been “unofficially closed” for a year now, with a 50% decrease in the number of Pakistani workers travelling there.
“The UAE government has reservations over the increasing number of Pakistanis begging in their country,” he said, noting that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif should take up the issue
