When he was among the first Indians to get a tourist visa issued by Dubai last week, Nihal Mubarack’s heart filled with hope and happiness as he was joining his parents and siblings in the UAE.
However, the medical student, who was stranded in Kerala, and his family in Sharjah, never imagined what he would encounter.
Nihal and another co-passenger, Shamna Kasim, a young pharmacist, who was flying to join her husband and family in the UAE, were offloaded minutes before they were set to board a flight to Dubai from Calicut International Airport.
Speaking over phone to Gulf News, which had covered his family’s delight when he received his visa last week, Nihal said his initial concern if he would be allowed to fly vanished when he was issued a boarding pass and received the immigration clearance stamp. However, when he was at the waiting lounge of the boarding gate, the airline’s staff told Nihal and co-passenger Shamna, who was also travelling on a tourist visa, that they cannot board the flight.
“It happened just minutes before we were to board the flight. The immigration officials suddenly informed the airline staff that they cannot allow us to fly,” said Nihal.
He said the duo were then asked to return to the departure area and their boarding pass and immigration stamp were cancelled.
“We tried to argue that the UAE government has no issue in letting us fly into the country and I even showed them the report that featured my visa story. But they said the Indian government is not allowing people on tourist and visit visas to fly to the UAE.”
The offloaded passengers had to wait for another 45 minutes and they returned home after receiving their checked-in baggage.