HRW on the UAE Deporting Shi’as and Gazans ……………
“More than a year has passed since the United Arab Emirates started deporting hundreds of Lebanese citizens and Palestinians originating from the Gaza Strip. The UAE government has failed to provide any adequate justification for these deportations or to allow those affected to appeal the decision. According to the Beirut-based Committee for Lebanese Deported from the UAE, the UAE has deported 120 Lebanese families without due process since June 2009, all of them Shiite. Human Rights Watch has interviewed nine of these deportees. Their testimony about being deported arbitrarily, without explanation or any opportunity for redress, raises concerns about the UAE’s commitment to human rights and its international legal obligations. All of the deportees interviewed by Human Rights Watch informed us they were long-time lawful residents of the UAE; some had lived in the country for more than 30 years and owned homes and businesses there…….. Before deporting them, UAE authorities summoned some of these men and asked them which political party they supported in Lebanon. They also requested that the men provide information about Hezbollah and the political affiliations of other Lebanese residing in the UAE, raising serious concerns that their expulsions were politically motivated. …………” Human Rights Watch and Aljazeera
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