DUBAI: Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Emirati authorities to allow a stateless blogger to return to the Gulf state after he was “forced” to leave to Thailand.

“Forcing a stateless man born in the United Arab Emirates to choose between indefinite detention there or exile in Thailand heralds a further decline in the UAE's human rights situation,” Amnesty said.

Ahmed Abdul Khaleq, a 35-year-old blogger and activist from the UAE's stateless bidoon minority, was arrested last year with four other activists accused of insulting the country's rulers. They were released by presidential amnesty in November.

On May 21, he was granted a Comoros passport. But he was re-arrested the next day and held until being forced to leave the country on Monday, according to the London-based rights watchdog. Authorities obtained a visa for him and booked him a flight to Bangkok early on Monday.—AFP