The UAE has offered to fly home over 2,000 Afghan illegal immigrants in military aircraft, reported the Gulf Daily News on Thursday.
A United Nations team from Geneva is expected to arrive in Dubai to give formal approval for the flights, said the paper.
Thousands of illegal immigrants have been stranded in the Gulf state and in other Gulf Cooperation Council countries by the UN sanctions on Afghanistan.
Both Pakistan and Iran refuse to provide transit facilities, said the paper.
Until recently, Pakistan was the only country through which illegal immigrants could be returned to Afghanistan.
According to the Afghan Embassy, the number of illegal immigrants in UAE jails has risen to 2,000 from 1,500 in the past week.
Hafiz Azizur Rahman, acting charge d'affaires, said a UN team was expected to arrive on Saturday from Geneva to visit the jailed Afghans.
"The team will visit the jails and find out if they include any political prisoners," Rahman told the paper.
He added that the UAE had offered to pay all deportation expenses.
"The government is waiting for the UN mission to arrive and give their final approval for the flights after meeting the prisoners," he said – Albawaba.com
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