» News

Bahrain Places Unannounced Ban on Entrance of Pakistanis, Summons All Pakistanis in Bahrain to Take Fingerprints

2018-09-12 - 7:40 p

Bahrain Mirror: A number of Pakistanis on social media have complained that they are being denied entry to Bahrain, a Pakistani news website.

According to a report Published in Gulf Daily News, Bahrain authorities have placed a temporary ban on Pakistanis entering the Kingdom.

According to newspaper, an official of a local company said they have faced an issue with visa requests for Pakistanis at the Labor Market Regulatory Authority.

"New visas for Pakistanis have been put on hold," the unnamed official was quoted as saying in the report.

In another report, the newspaper said Pakistanis are reportedly being summoned to police stations for fingerprint verification.

Several Pakistani nationals told the GDN that they were asked to report to their nearest police station with their original passport, where they were made to provide impressions of their fingers and palms manually.

"All Pakistanis are being summoned for this verification and I also learn that soon a no-objection-certificate will be issued after the verification.

"I was also informed that some companies have been contacted to provide details of select employees" Pakistani banker was quoted as saying.

It seems that these security measures have come into effect in an announced way against Pakistanis since last month for unknown reasons.

People said that these measures are related to the authorities' claims that 14 Iranians were arrested after entering Bahrain with fake Asian passports and under false names, the newspaper reported.

"Someone told me it has to do with the fake passport issue exposed by the government and hence all Asians will be called for verification sooner or later," said a Pakistani who was summoned for investigation.

One said: "I was also asked general questions about my studies and family, and finally I was pictured holding the two documents."

The newspaper said that many Pakistani nationals have claimed they were denied entry into Bahrain at King Fahad Causeway during the Eid Al-Adha holidays last month.

Senior official in the Pakistani Embassy denied twice allegations that a ban has been imposed on their nationals travelling to Bahrain.

However, the Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Quresh said on (August 28, 2018) after talks with his Bahraini counterpart that he hopes that Bahrain reduces visa restrictions and strict security measures against Pakistanis.

Arabic Version