UAE recently announced that attested vaccine certification is now mandatory for passengers traveling from Pakistan to UAE.
The UAE embassy in Islamabad has informed the Foreign Office of Pakistan that those wishing to travel from Pakistan to UAE would need a vaccine certificate especially issued by NADRA.
The certificate would then be attested by both the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and the UAE embassy. The new rule is set to come into effect from 1st August.
Even diplomats, officials, and golden visa holders are not exempted. However, Pakistani ex-pats who are residents of the UAE are exempted from the new travel restrictions if they have taken their COVID-19 vaccine jab from the UAE.
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https://twitter.com/falamb3/status/1415573194585542656?s=20
Confirming the authenticity of the letter, Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said Pakistan will extend cooperation to the UAE, adding that the FO will also provide assistance to Pakistanis to get their Covid-19 certificates attested from the Foreign Office before sending the same to the UAE Embassy.
Ban on flights from Pakistan
In June, the UAE imposed a ban on flights from 14 countries including Pakistan due to an increased number of Covid cases. The ban will remain until 21st July 2021.
Pakistan has expressed hope that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will review the travel ban it has imposed on Pakistan as the coronavirus situation in the country is better than in several other states.
As per media reports, Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said Pakistani officials were in talks with their UAE counterparts, as he hoped the country would revoke its travel restrictions.
“Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi recently discussed the issue with his UAE counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed,” the spokesperson said.
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Other countries that are restricted include India, Nigeria, South Africa, Liberia, Namibia, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Zambia, Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
UAE’s policy towards India raises concerns
UAE’s decision to allow visa holders from India and other countries where the COVID-19 situation is worse than Pakistan and denying Pakistanis the same rights has raised concerns.
UAE’s policy towards India is being considered quite skeptical as India has recorded one of the highest numbers of Covid infections since the beginning of the second wave, yet UAE still allows Indians to enter the region under certain conditions.
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According to an analysis of government data, India’s COVID-19 deaths hit a record high in June after cases peaked in early May. India officially reported 403,281 deaths in its second wave of Covid.