In a relief to Indian expatriate community, the Kuwait and UAE governments on Saturday gave a green signal to the Indians stranded in the Gulf countries to fly back to India.
A fleet of special flights (Emirates) have been arranged by the Kuwait government. The United Arab Emirates has offered to fly stranded Indians who wish to be repatriated if they test negative for Covid-19. The Kuwait government said it is awaiting a response from the Indian External Affairs Ministry.
According to some estimates, Indian expatriate community of nearly 33 lakh is the largest ethnic community in UAE constituting roughly about 30 per cent of the country’s population.
Ever since the ban on international flights was enforced on March 22, Indians stranded abroad asserted pressure on the Indian government to bring them back. On its part, the external affairs ministry had been constantly in touch with foreign ministries in Gulf and Saudi Arabia. Kuwait has also asked illegal migrants and those whose visas have expired during this pandemic period to leave the country by April 30. Amnesty has been granted till that date; meaning there will be no penalty.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote a letter to Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar on Saturday to help the state government in its efforts to bring back people from Andhra Pradesh who are stranded in the Gulf countries.
