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Published 27 Feb, 2014 07:35am

Deported workers threaten sit-in outside Parliament House

ISLAMABAD: Workers deported from United Arab Emirates (UAE) here on Wednesday threatened to stage a sit-in outside Parliament House if the Gulf country continued to expel labourers belonging to Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) without any reason and prior notice.

Speaking at a news conference here at National Press Club, member of the action committee formed by affected workers complained that their salaries were still pending with the hiring companies.

“So far 8,000 workers have been expelled only because they belonged to the tribal areas,” Inayat Hussain, chairman of the action committee said.

They urged the government to raise the issue at the Foreign Office level as Pakistani workers in the UAE were facing a hard time and nobody was paying heed to their woes.

To a question whether the massive deportation had any link with the ongoing conflict in Syria, they said the poor immigrants were only earning their livelihood and had nothing to do with the Syrian war.

“Our machinery has been dumped on the roads of Abu Dhabi. Thousands of salaried class people have not received their salaries after they were deported. We want justice from human rights organisations and our government as well,” Tariq Swati, another deportee said.

Similarly, Zawar Hussain, who used to run a transport service in Dubai, complained that his vehicles were still in the custody of his Indian partner since he was unable to look after his business after his deportation.

“I got a notice from the UAE authorities, instructing me to leave the country within 24 hours. I don’t know why I was given such a short time for exit. Now I cannot travel to the Gulf country on account of being blacklisted,” he added.

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