Gulf nations scale back Pakistani visas over crime concerns

New Delhi: Notwithstanding Pakistan's attempt over the past year to re-establish itself as a key interlocutor in the Gulf, several countries in the region are tightening visa norms for Pakistani nationals amid rising concerns over crime, extremism and drug trafficking.

Senior Pakistani politicians have claimed that the UAE has stopped issuing visas to Pakistani nationals. Pakistan's additional interior secretary Salman Chaudhry told the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights that both the UAE and Saudi Arabia had "stopped short of imposing a ban on the Pakistani passport," The Dawn reported on Friday.

The issue is particularly prominent in the UAE. Qatar and Oman, according to West Asia experts, now prefer Indian workers over Pakistanis, and Qatar's Indian workforce has seen a sharp rise.


In Saudi Arabia alone, more than 4,000 Pakistani beggars were detained in Mecca and Madina in recent years, often during the Umrah and Hajj seasons. Several Pakistani nationals have also been arrested for drug-related offences in the kingdom.

The Dawn report noted that the UAE's halt in issuing most visa categories - including tourist, visit and employment permits - stems from concerns over an uptick in criminal activity involving Pakistani nationals. Authorities have been scrutinising organised begging rackets, street crimes, murders, drug operations and cases of overstaying. Existing visas remain valid, but embassies and authorised centres have stopped processing new applications.

An estimated 800,000 Pakistanis apply each year for visas to Gulf and West Asian countries, many seeking employment or using the region as a transit route to Western destinations. Regional security agencies, however, have raised alarms over illegal activities involving some travellers.

In 2018, Dubai's Head of General Security Dhahi Khalfan publicly linked Pakistanis to drug trafficking after a major enforcement raid and urged employers to "not hire Pakistanis," calling it a "national duty."

Meanwhile, the Indian diaspora remains the largest expatriate community in the Gulf, with around nine million Indians living and working across the six Gulf countries.