Man calls emergency number to get deported

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 5 (UPI) -- A man said he dialed the emergency number in Dubai, UAE, more than 100 times on multiple occasions so he could be deported to his home country of Pakistan.

The 53-year-old Pakistani man, identified by prosecutors as R.S., said he thought of the scheme after he was declared as an illegal after living in the United Arab Emirates' Dubai for 30 years, was broke and had little hope of finding employment after he lost his job with the Dubai police force, Gulf News reported Tuesday.

Prosecutors accused R.S. of abusing telecommunication services and disturbing the authorities by logging more than 100 calls to the emergency number on multiple occasions.

"It was my only alternative because I wanted to be deported and fly back home," R.S. told the Dubai Misdemeanor Court.

He said he dialed the emergency number "for no valid or urgent reason in order to be taken to court and deported. ... They constantly ordered me to stop calling them, failing which they would issue an arrest warrant in my name ... and that was exactly what I wanted them to do."

He said he was fired from his job as a calligrapher in Dubai Police and his residency was canceled because he was absent for several days.

"I couldn't find a job, my visa expired and I don't know where my passport is," R.S. said. "I intentionally disturbed the police to be deported back to Pakistan."

A verdict is expected March 19.