Final year blues: So near yet so far

DUBAI: A Pakistani girl in her final year of journalism school faces the prospect of discontiuing her studies as her father's visa runs out at the end of December following mandatory retirement.

Fatima Suhail, 22, was born and raised in Dubai, the youngest in a brood of three. In December 2010, her father Suhail Maqbool, who then turned 60, was given a year's extension until December 2011 by his employer, a government institution, where Maqbool worked as a senior electrician.

On November 16, he was told no extension would be granted following his 39 years of service.

Maqbool came to Dubai from Lahore, Pakistan, in 1972 at the age of 19 in search of greener pastures. Since February 1993, after he lost his wife, Maqbool chose to focus on raising his three young children.

"We have always led a very simple life," Maqbool told XPRESS. "My only wish is to see my children succeed in their chosen fields. Our story is no different from other families."

But that story is about to change. Fatima, who is eight months shy of completing her course, finds herself helpless: "My heart aches to see my aspiration of becoming a journalist on the verge of being shattered."

Now she faces being uprooted from Dubai to go with her father to Lahore, a city Fatima and her siblings hardly know and where she has only stayed for a cumulative period of three months in the last 22 years of her life.

"I wish to support my father at this stage of his life when he is old," said Fatima who hoped to complete her degree in PR and journalism from a Knowledge Village institute in July 2012. Now, she hardly has two months before being compelled to leave the country as her residency depends on her father's visa. "We consider Dubai our home… and we find ourselves fortunate to be living in this beautiful city," she said. Fatima dreads the thought of being forced to turn her back on the only city she has known all her life. "We love Dubai for its safety … a unique mix of culture and tradition, which many people who hail from diverse cultures consider their home," she said.

Even if she stays on a student visa, it will be tough. "I've never been without my family. For a young girl in Dubai to live alone is very difficult."

Maqbool said he had been too busy to even find a suitable husband for his older daughter and son. His eldest, 32-year-old Sadia, 32, is currently jobless. Only the second child, 30-year-old Tarek, has a job as an auto dealership salesman in Ajman.

As they count the days, Fatima said: "I do not find it logical that as a result of my father's retirement, our family will suffer. We deserve to live in the UAE much longer and this should not be the end to our journey here. This is a tragic end to all those years of hard work - but I am determined to make it better for me and my family."