The Foreign Office rejected as “fake news” a report claiming the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has stopped issuing new visas to visitors from two cities of Punjab for various security reasons.
“We have seen the reports. We can confirm that no such ban is in place by UAE for issuance of visas to Pakistani citizens,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson for the Foreign Office, said, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.
24 News had claimed the sheikhdom stopped issuing new visas to travelers from those cities after adding them to a blacklist. This latest “inclusion” took the overall number of restricted Pakistan cities to 24, it had reported, without disclosing how, or from where, it received the information.
According to APP, the UAE also rejected the report. According to the oil-rich Gulf nation’s top diplomat in Karachi, Bakheet Ateeq Al Remeithi, Abu Dhabi has not placed such a ban on any Pakistani city.
In addition, he confirmed to have personally approved request for visas of residents from those “restricted” cities at the UAE consulate in Karachi. He noted that such rumours are frequently disseminated.
