Thirty-one men — Uzbekistan’s citizens — who arrived at Sheikh Zayed Airport in Abu Dhabi at 1:00 AM on 30 November on a Wizz Air flight 5W7160 were denied entry to the country. Passengers told Gazeta.uz that their passports were taken away, they were subjected to questioning and their rights were severely violated.
Update: Subsequent messages revealed the detention of 10 more men and later other 50 individuals, with concerns that further detentions might follow.
One of the detained, part of the group of 31, said women, children and elderly passengers were allowed to leave. However, men aged 20 to 40 were detained and may face deportation. No reasons for these actions were provided. The passengers were denied food, and were accompanied by armed national guard officers when going to the toilet, they said. The embassy of Uzbekistan, according to passengers, was unable to assist the detained at the time of publishing this news.
“My brother and I came for Formula 1 — that is purely for tourism — with concerts of Eminem, Maroon 5, Teddy Swims, Peggy Gou and Muse,” one passenger shared.
The detained individuals had various purposes for their visit — some for business meetings, others to visit family members and some as tourists, the passenger noted.
“Upon arrival, at passport control, they started pulling us aside and taking our passports without explanation,” the man said.
“We just sat and waited for any kind of information. Then they started calling us one by one, asking the purpose of the visit, how long we would stay, taking our phone numbers. Then, without answering our questions, they led us back. We sat like that for 15 hours,” he continued. During this time, they were fed only once.
“Then, national guard officers with guns came and took us to another room, it was like a basement, with awful conditions, stuffy, nowhere to sit or lie down,” he said.
“We started looking for contacts at the embassy ourselves. They gave us various information, but no one has helped so far. They said someone from the embassy would come at 8 AM, but they didn’t. Then we were told the problem would be solved by 5 PM, but it wasn’t,” the man coninued.
It was not openly stated that all detained would be deported back to Tashkent. But they learned that 18 tickets were purchased, but no details about the tickets, the flight or the intended passengers were provided. As a result, the men had to buy tickets themselves.
“We had to buy return tickets at our own expense, and no one plans to reimburse us. Now we’re waiting for our flight, we can’t sleep because there’s nowhere to rest. The flight is in 11 hours,” the man said.
“The embassy has been saying all day that they are handling our case, but nothing was done yet. All 31 of us are figuring out things on our own,” he added.
“Ten minutes ago, we were allowed to go and eat something — at our own expense. But our passports have not been returned. They said we’ll get them only when we leave,” he said.
“We lost $4,300 on Formula 1 tickets, accommodation and flights,” the man noted.
Embassy statement
As the story was being prepared, at approximately 11:10 PM Tashkent time, the embassy of Uzbekistan in the UAE issued a statement regarding the detention of 31 Uzbekistan’s citizens at the airport “for unknown reasons”.
“The embassy of Uzbekistan in Abu Dhabi and the consulate general in Dubai are in dialogue with the airport administration and relevant UAE authorities, and have taken control of the situation,” the statement said.
“Together with the airport administration, measures have been taken to ensure our compatriots receive three meals a day and medical assistance if needed,” the embassy added.
“All necessary steps are being taken to resolve the situation,” the diplomatic mission concluded.
