The United Arab Emirates government has made cleared the travel back to home country by non-resident Indians (NRI) working in the UAE. However, the Indian Embassy in the UAE has clarified that no NRI would be able to return in view of the ongoing lockdown in force in the country.
Indian Ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor said that Government of India was not ready to invite the expatriates into the country at this time when the lockdown was in force. In view of the health safety of residents of the country and also expatriates this decision was taken and therefore all Indian expatriates should stay back wherever they were now, he said in a statement.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the UAE released a Note Verbale on Saturday evening in the name of UAE Ambassador to India Abdul Rahman Ahmed Albanna and immediately after that the Indian Embassy in the UAE issued the note, according to Patkuri Basanth Reddy, president, Gulf Telangana Welfare and Cultural Association (GTWCA).
In the message Mr. Albanna, said that the UAE has sent such messages to all the embassies. However, only those who tested COVID-19 negative would be allowed to travel to their countries. He also said that in his country excellent testing facilities were available and over 5 lakh people were already tested.
Quoting Albanna, Mr. Basanth Reddy said that the UAE was examining the case of migrant workers who were stuck in the Gulf country in the wake of lockdown with a humanitarian view and would make arrangements to send them to their countries.
The same message was published in the Gulf newspapers on Sunday, Mr. Reddy said and added that about 4 lakh migrant workers and employees from India were working in the UAE.
