Mr Ahmed Abdul Khaleq Ahmed Karim Al Baloushi, commonly known as Ahmed Abdul Khaleq, had previously been arrested together with four other individuals after publicly criticising government policies. Following an unfair trial before the Emirati Federal Supreme Court, the 35-year-old former employee of the Police forces was sentenced to two years imprisonment on 27 November 2011. The following day, Mr Abdul Khaleq and the four other men were granted royal pardon and they were subsequently released.

Mr Abdul Khaleq's criticisms related in particular to the handling of the situation of the "Bidun" in the Emirates. "Bidun" (or "without" in Arabic) is a term used in the Gulf region to refer to people who have no official nationality and are therefore de facto stateless. Estimates of the total number of Bidun in the UAE range from 10,000 according to the Government to over 100,000 according to Human Rights NGOs. Mr Khalek is himself stateless, and has therefore particularly spoken out about their treatment in the country.

Incredibly, one of the strategies adopted by the UAE authorities to tackle the issue of statelessness in the country is to ask members of the Bidun community to acquire a nationality other than the Emirati nationality so that they can then apply for resident status to 'legalise' their stay in the UAE. This measure is taken even though these families have been living on the territory of the UAE for generations. The Comoro Islands are one of the rare countries who accept these applications for nationality after receiving substantial amounts of money from the Emirates in 2009.

When in the beginning of 2012, Mr Abdul Khaleq and his family were pressured by the UAE authorities to apply for Comorian citizenship as a preliminary step in view of 'legalising' their situation in the Emirates, they followed these orders. They received notice that their bid for Comorian citizenship had been accepted on 21 May 2012.

On 22 May 2012, Mr Abdul Khaleq's father was asked to present himself at the Immigration department of Ajman Emirate in order to complete some paper work. Upon arrival, he was ordered to call the other members of his family so they would also present themselves to the authorities. When the family arrived to the offices of the Immigration department, Mr Ahmed Abdul Khaleq was taken to an unknown location and his relatives were asked to leave. Neither Mr Abdul Khaleq nor his family were explained the reasons for his arrest or shown an arrest warrant.

Since the day of Mr Abdul Khaleq's unlawful arrest a week ago, he was allegedly held at Al Wathba prison in Abu Dabi before being transferred to Al Sader prison in preparation of his expulsion to the Comoro islands on 24 May 2012. As there has been no news regarding his current situation despite numerous attempts to contact the local authorities as well as the prisons' direction, there are fears that Mr Abdul Khaleq will indeed be deported to the Comoro Islands, a place where he has never been before and to which he has no personal ties.

As Mr Abdul Khaleq's imminent expulsion is clearly related to his exercise of his right to freedom of opinion and expression, Alkarama urges the Emirati authorities to immediately halt all procedures in view of deporting Mr Khaleq to the Comoro Islands. As his detention is unlawful altogether, we further call on the Emirati authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mr Adnul Khaliq in oder to bring his situation in accordance with national legislation and international standards relating to detention and fair trial.

Today, Alkarama informed the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression as well as further relevant UN human rights mechanisms of Mr Abdul Khaleq's risk of expulsion. Keeping in mind that Abdul Khaleq's arrest comes in the wake of a larger campaign against political activists and human rights defenders in the UAE, Alkarama will continue to closely monitor the situation.