The issue of Lebanese citizens being deported from Gulf countries has once again taken center stage. In the past few days, two groups of Lebanese were sent away from the United Arab Emirates, each comprising more than 50 individuals. Furthermore, some Lebanese were expelled from Saudi Arabia.
The Lebanese citizens have arrived to their villages in south Lebanon. They were informed about the expulsion decision and the confiscation of their passports only a few months ago. Some explained that ?the increase in the number of expelled Lebanese came after the decision taken by the GCC to impose comprehensive sanctions on Hezbollah.?
M.J, who was deported with her husband and four children from the UAE, could not find any justification for this act. Her husband has been living in the UAE since he was five years old???more than 35 years.
She said, ?Last year, they gave us a period of one week to leave the UAE after they confiscated our passports. Then, they suddenly reneged, only to insist again on our deportation in less than a week.?
She added, ?My husband is not engaged in politics or affiliated with any political party. His sole concern is sustaining his family and children, who were born and raised in the UAE.?
She said, ?The family is going through tough times after the deportation in terms of finding a job for my husband and enrolling the children in schools, especially since some were already enrolled in UAE schools.?
A few years ago, Mohammed Y. found a job in the UAE after graduating from university in Lebanon. He was working in a company before he was expelled with his wife and two children a couple of weeks ago, for unknown reasons and without being accused of anything.
Mohammed talked about his surprise when he was informed about the deportation decision from Abu Dhabi. He said, ?The security department called me and asked for my passport. Then, a short while after that, I was informed about the deportation decision without any explanation.?
He mentioned that ?a number of his friends in Qatar received similar notices.?
Months ago, M.M. was expelled from Saudi Arabia even though he has been living there for more than 30 years.
He notes that he knows absolutely nothing about his southern village, while he knows Saudi Arabia like the palm of his hand, since he was born and raised there.
The Lebanese foreign minister in the caretaker government, Adnan Mansour, told As-Safir, ?The ministry is collecting data in order to deal with the issue of Lebanese citizens being deported from Gulf countries.??
Hussein Saad
