Gaza – Ma’an – The Department of Refugee Affairs of Hamas, the Palestinians from Gaza Strip in the United Arab Emirates, are being deported quietly and without fanfare, a new chapter of the tragedy without apparent reason.

Quoted by Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Kurdi , professor of Shariah Law and Kuranic Sciences:

“There are hundreds that have been driven out irreversibly from the UAE of whom had lived in the UAE nearly sixty years,” he said that after the expulsion of Palestinians from the UAE and the hospitality he received by Malaysia, where he was speaking from Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia on behalf of the Palestinians that were expelled, but for himself he does not want to return to the UAE, he confirmed.

The Media Service distributed a letter from the Sheikh which said it appeals for the people of conscience to act and to stop such actions and states the following:

The security authorities in the United Arab Emirates, since less than a month have informed thousands of Palestinians holders of Palestinian or Jordanian passports (two-Strip) and Egyptian documents to leave the country. The Palestinians were notified to complete their work and belongings and leave within two days, a week, two weeks, or one month maximum – which of course is not enough – without taking into account the period they have established themselves in the country which in some cases was up to 40 years. This has been done without giving them any reasons but deportation for security reasons and probably heard the words “guidance and orders from higher up” and taken the same footprint and pictures of all the criminals and displayed on the screen of black and white for all to see at the headquarters of the Ministry of Interior which in turn canceled his residence and demanded him to leave, and then deprived him also the six Gulf states, “even the Holy Land.”

There is no country in the world that accepts the entry of the Palestinian passport or the Egyptian document for Palestinian refugees without a residency, even if they refused to leave the grounds there is no country that would accept …the alternative is a “prison” after he was expected to grant permanent residency or citizenship. This surprising deportation is a violation of all international norms and laws and even morality and humanity. These refugees remain silent as they are being deported after they had spent all their youth in the UAE!”

I see it as my duty to speak out when no one dares to claim this injustice through the media or human rights organizations, or even by the “Human Rights Care Department Leadership of Dubai Police” which was recently established. It is either for the lack of time spent on complaint procedures, which exceeds the deadline to leave and either out of fear for himself and to have his name in the security services of other countries and become vulnerable to prosecutions and security investigation only so much he then prefers to leave silently from the country that exterminated the old and young!!

I found it to be my obligation to talk about those thousands who were abandoned these days in silence and dare to reveal the subject of one such that has resulted the Palestinian in being endorsed with such a calamity. Those who have exceeded seventy years of age or who have been living in the UAE for over 50 years and were born and were married with children and grandchildren , would they think of breaching its security? God forbid! It is the Palestinian’s destiny to reconstruct the country he goes and eats from; this country of residence becomes his first home and not the second, and for this reason we suggest that those people expose their problem on Emirates live broadcast stations to uncover these unjust allegations of threatening the security of the country, which was imposed on them.

I also want to expose to the media that the services of 350 Palestinian teachers in government schools in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and the Western Area in June 2009 were terminated, of whom are mostly originally from the Gaza Strip. This incident is being referred to as the “Gaza Massacre in the UAE” in light of the current difficult circumstances that is experienced by the Palestinian people without shelter. These procedures are not a result of the financial crisis. It’s intended for the Palestinian people only! When managers of these schools, businesses were asked, the answer that came was that it was the command of the state security apparatus..!

These decisions did not appear until after the meeting of the recent Arab Foreign Ministers, which ended in an agreement to resolve the refugee problem and the result was the removal or termination of services with the knowledge that this is not less guilty than of the murder of the Palestinians themselves. It is to be noted that, in the prior period in which the rule of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God have mercy on him , the Palestinian was the last to be expelled from his work and today he is the first to be targeted and deported as well. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai during the war on Gaza ordered against the transfer of any Palestinian, whatever the reasons and today he is the first to be taken out especially if he is from Gazza!!

The Gazans are not trying to pursue the reason for the deportation or to find help or trying to question the security authorities which are closing in upon them or the threat until it stops. This silence is a result of fear over their families or other members of their families and their relatives, fearing that they might be deported as well!!

According to the information that I have received, the majority of the Palestinian deportees , including those from the Gaza Strip have applied to the concerned authorities to obtain the UAE nationality or have exceeded the duration of residence of the State over 25 years are entitled to citizenship under international law of the UAE!!

This is not related to the financial crisis, the UAE media broadcast programs have claimed that they “may have passed the worst”, if that is really the case then why is the continuous displacement of the Palestinians? A phone call or a message to the satellite channels , the print and visual media, as well as Arabic Internet forums would give it the emphasis it deserves …

The UAE intellectuals who do not deny the reconstruction and revival of the UAE by the Palestinians are unhappy and confused by this behavior and what is happening, but are nevertheless helpless …

This letter and this topic has been exposed and to alert of the suffering that is being experienced by our brothers in the UAE now …this might also take place in the rest of the Arabian Gulf States !

This letter is just to clarify or to prepare for renewed suffering of the Palestinians in various parts of the world!!

This message is an alert to the sound of the sad bell in the hearts of the renewed proud of our homeland and its people that had made it holy!!

This message is an alert declared to prepare for a new round of war on the Palestinians and the Gazans!

This message is an alert of the real magnitude of how many Palestinian families would be affected in Gaza who depend on the aid that they have been receiving from their relatives in the Emirates on monthly and annually basis. Imagine how many Gazan families in Gaza will suffer grievously as a result of the discontinue of the subsistence source from their relatives deported from the UAE!!

If there is anyone who has any dignity and is conscious to what might happen to their own children or was influenced by what has been happening to Palestinian expatriates in UAE please support and help as much as possible to pass on this news to senior Palestinian officials, the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah or the government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh! “

End of the message.

posted 28/8/2009 …updated 29/8/2009