Expatriates deported from a member country of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) cannot enter any other member states.

The GCC countries have begun applying a law that bans foreign workers deported from any of the six member states from entering the other member countries.

The Dubai-based English-language daily, Gulf News, has reported the above, citing a report in an official newsletter of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs in the emirate. A report in the September issue of Manafez Dubai said, the new law is based on the GCC security pact.

“Moreover, the country which deports an expatriate will be allowed to take the deportee’s finger prints and share information with the other GCC countries,” said the newsletter.

It added that the GCC countries are coordinating efforts to control drug trafficking by exchanging information, including the names of smugglers, their modus operandi and other data.

Gulf News, however, quoted an official from a legal consultancy firm as saying that the GCC-wide entry ban on deported expatriates is not automatic, except in drug-related cases. “Otherwise, it is applied on a case-to-case basis,” the official said.

The security pact of 1994 of the GCC was amended in 2012 and implemented to tackle major crimes such as drugs, money laundering, murder, etc., another expert told Gulf News.

Citing cases, she said a man implicated in a drug case in Saudi Arabia was deported from the UAE without a trial, based on the judgment issued by a Saudi court.

Another man in South Africa, who defaulted on alimony in the UAE, wanted to relocate to Bahrain.

He had read about the law, so he found out if there was an arrest warrant against him in the UAE and got his name cleared, she added.

Follow us on our social media channels: @ILQlive @ILQlive @ILoveQtr ILoveQatar

QNE

Start a discussion