'No ban on export of Pakistan workforce to UAE'

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfiqar Bukhari on Thursday clarified that the United Arab Emirates' move to suspend the issuance of work visas to Pakistanis was not true, saying that there was "no ban on the export of Pakistani workforce".

In a two-part tweet, Bukhari said that "contrary to media reports", UAE Minister for Human Resources and Emiratisation Nasser bin Thani Al Hamli had "categorically stated that there is no ban on export of Pakistani workforce". Furthermore, the UAE was giving priority to those workers, who were registered on the Virtual Labour Market Database and had been laid off due to the economic slump caused by Covid-19, Bukhari tweeted.

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Thankful to HE Nasser bin Thani Al Hamli(Minister of Human Resources & Emiratisation) for his continued support for #OverseasPakistanis
-Contrary to media reports, he categorically stated there is NO BAN on export of 🇵🇰 workforce
-There has been 11%⬆️ in 🇵🇰 knowledge workers

— Sayed Z Bukhari (@sayedzbukhari) November 26, 2020

The tweets come days after reports emerged that the UAE had temporarily stopped issuing visas to citizens of a dozen countries, including those of Pakistan.

The Foreign Office had confirmed the development last week, saying that UAE's decision was "believed to be related to the second wave of Covid-19".