JAKARTA - Two children are very happy when they can enter the immigration control cabin and stamp their own passports at Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Isobel (9) and her brother Charles (6) arrived in Dubai on Tuesday, and wanted to know what the passport control officer was doing behind their desk.

As they stood beside their parents, a senior officer greeted them, inviting the two into the immigration check-in cabin.

Lieutenant General Mohammed Al Merri, director general of the Directorate General of Resident and Foreign Affairs in Dubai, was on an inspection visit when he saw the two children and decided to surprise them.

He told the children about the work of passport control officers, even allowing them to put an entry stamp on their own passports.

mencap paspor di dubai
Isobel and Charles at Dubai airport. (Source: General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs Dubai)

"We were back in Dubai after a summer holiday in England, when Isobel and Charles received a real treat at the airport. The officers allowed them to stamp their own passports. It was an amazing experience," said Steve Thomas Williams, the children's father, told The National News as quoted Aug. 19.

A moment later, Lieutenant General Al Merri explained to Isobel and Charles how the officers checked passenger passports.

"Usually passport control is a high security area but in Dubai, they break down barriers and a senior officer offers a special experience to children," said Williams, who is chief executive of a company in Dubai.

It is known, Williams and his wife Claire have lived in Dubai for the last 18 years. Their children were born in the UAE and attend school in Al Barsha.

"Al Merri explained to them all about passport control. He was very nice to them and they were happy," explained Williams.

"They replied 'Shukran Jazeelan', which means thank you very much in Arabic."


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