Thousands of Pakistanis in UAE lose jobs amid coronavirus fears
Owing to economic instability amid the coronavirus pandemic, over 10,000 Pakistani nationals working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have lost their jobs.
According to Ahmed Amjad Ali, Pakistan’s Consul General in Dubai, the statistics were obtained from those Pakistanis who registered to fly back to Pakistan amid the coronavirus concerns.
“We had asked the citizens to mention the reason why they should be given preference to travel back to Pakistan once special flights were arranged. More than 10,000 of those who registered claimed that they needed to leave because they had lost their jobs. Some of them may be going on unpaid leaves, but we are still trying to assess that,” he said, quoted Arab News.
The envoy has announced that some 35,000 Pakistanis have registered with the Dubai Consulate to return to their homeland.
The UAE has ramped up lockdowns and other steps to curb coronavirus spread in the emirates, so far more than 2900 cases have been registered in the UAE with 14 deaths due to the virus.
It may be noted here that UAE is one of Pakistan’s favorite employment destinations, with more than 1.2 million Pakistani nationals living and working in the region.
