UAE lifts travel ban to Lebanon
The United Arab Emirates has lifted the ban on its citizens wishing to travel to Lebanon. The decision was made on October 8, during the visit to the UAE of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri. The travel ban to Lebanon was issued in 2016 because of security concerns related to the war in neighboring Syria.
Emiratis interviewed by the Post welcomed the decision. Suood Al Abdallah, an Emirati architecture student at AUD, said that before the lifting of the ban the “only way to go to Lebanon was by transit from another country.” “As a family of nine adults and five kids, we found that difficult and inconvenient,” he said.
“When we heard the news it was an actual relief,” said over the phone Hamad Al Zaabi, an Emirati finance and accounting student at Brunel University in London. “I have been visiting Lebanon every summer since I was a young boy. Our house, cars, friends and families are all there, and we are happy that we can go without a hassle,” he said.
The UAE’s decision was welcomed as well by the Lebanese who are hoping that the return of Emiratis travelers will help to boost their ailing economy.
