RP mulls travel advisory to Kish Island, Oman

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine officials in the United Arab Emirates are eyeing a travel advisory to Kish Island in Iran after the number of visa-change visitors stranded there doubled during the holidays.

Philippine Consul General Benito Valeriano said he might issue a travel advisory to prevent Filipinos from going to Iran or Oman until the situation returns to normal.

"In the first place, visa runs are not encouraged by the host government. Secondly, the situation in Kish and Qeshm islands in Iran and the UAE-Oman borders are becoming intolerable and very critical," he told online news site Khaleej Times.

He said he may also recommend to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila to issue a similar travel advisory so that the Immigration at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport will no longer allow anyone leaving the country for Dubai on visit visas.

For his part, acting Philippine ambassador Laureano Santiago said the Philippine diplomatic missions in Abu Dhabi and in Teheran are making preparations for the repatriation of the stranded Filipinos.

"They prefer to wait and come back to Dubai," he added.

The Khaleej Times report said the introduction of the new United Arab Emirates visa rule caused concern at the hotels on Kish and the Filipino diplomatic mission.

"Most of the visa changers are just sitting everywhere and staying outside is not possible because of the season," said Aida Esquillo at the reception of Venus Hotel on Kish Island.

Esquillo said the hotel has to assist hundreds of guests for extending their stay.

Visa-change "tourists" have to contact the Residency Permit Office of the Immigration Department in Kish for an extension.

"The average arrival rate has been around 70. We have no rooms to spare. Even though Filipino guests agree to accommodate their friends in their rooms, we run out of beds and sheets," Esquillo said.

She said the room occupancy has been brought to the maximum of 14 guests per room as compared to the regular occupancy of seven to eight guests.

A spokesman of Kish Airlines, the major operator to Kish Island, said all their flights were fully booked. The same is true with Aseman Airline.

Farz Air Qeshm has four direct flights daily to Qeshm while Kish Air and Aseman Airline have direct flights from Dubai to Kish.

Operators charge Dh600 for a round trip. The daily hordes of visa changers to Qeshm made Kish Airline to open a new route to Qeshm last month with two flights daily.

This is in addition to its eight to 10 flights to Kish, the report said.

Last September, Reza Ardalan, head of the Residency Permit Office in Kish, Iran, confirmed that 80 per cent of the 5,000 people on visa runs were Filipinos.

But Fatima, a tour coordinator at Farabi Hotel in Kish, said it could easily be over 6,000. - GMANew.TV

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