Pakistan’s deepening credibility problems abroad surfaced again on Thursday after Dawn, a Pakistani daily newspaper, reported that the UAE was no longer issuing visas to Pakistanis, with only a handful granted in recent months “after much difficulty”.
Pakistan’s Interior Ministry has briefed lawmakers that the United Arab Emirates has effectively halted visas for most Pakistani citizens, exempting only blue-passport holders and those with diplomatic status.
The explanation for the freeze, delivered without diplomatic varnish, came from Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, who said the ban stemmed from Pakistanis “getting involved in criminal activities” once inside the UAE. The Interior Ministry’s briefing, quoted by the Express Tribune, warned parliamentarians that Pakistan had narrowly escaped the drastic prospect of a complete international ban on its passports.
Additional Interior Secretary Salman Chaudhry told the committee that 21,647 Pakistanis are currently jailed across 61 countries, mostly for offences such as overstaying visas, identity fraud, and bank-related violations. He noted that 93 per cent of Pakistan’s overseas labour force—nearly 800,000 migrants—works in Gulf states, underscoring the fragility of Pakistan’s economic dependence on a region now tightening its scrutiny of Pakistani workers.
The UAE’s clampdown follows an equally uncomfortable episode with Saudi Arabia, which recently “stopped short of imposing a ban on the Pakistani passport”. Riyadh has halted visas for nationals from 30 Pakistani cities, citing incidents of begging. Earlier this year, Dawn reported that Saudi authorities arrested and deported more than 4,700 Pakistani beggars, including many picked up in Mecca and Madina.
According to FirstPost, more than 800,000 Pakistanis apply each year for visas to Gulf and Middle Eastern countries, seeking work and financial stability. Yet a significant number face legal trouble abroad. In 2018, Dubai’s head of security, Dhahi Khalfa, publicly accused Pakistani nationals of bringing drugs into Gulf countries and bluntly cautioned employers: “Do not hire Pakistanis.”
The irony is not lost in Islamabad: the UAE and Saudi Arabia are countries Pakistan routinely describes as “historic partners”. The UAE remains one of Pakistan’s largest trading partners in the Middle East and hosts a huge Pakistani expatriate population, while Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have recently expanded defence cooperation and are discussing new shipping and port development projects.
Yet these diplomatic niceties have not answered the uncomfortable question raised in parliament: why do so many Pakistanis end up resorting to unlawful activities abroad?
A recent IMF report offers a stark explanation. “Corruption continues to hinder Pakistan’s macroeconomic and social development by diverting public funds, distorting markets, impeding fair competition, eroding public trust, and constraining domestic and foreign investment,” it states. The report adds that the most harmful form of corruption is elite capture, noting that “the most economically damaging manifestations involve privileged entities that exert influence over key economic sectors,” many of them tied to the Pakistani state itself.
