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The British decision severely affected the travel plans of more than 120,000 British nationals in the UAE.
The British in the UAE and the United Kingdom expressed disappointment at the British government’s decision to keep the UAE on the red list, despite the high vaccination rate in the UAE and the low rate of positive Covid cases.
“I have high hopes that the UK will review its decision and remove the UAE from the red list, but to our disappointment, nothing has changed,” said Mubashira S, a British resident. “I work full-time in the UK. Unlike before, I cannot come to the UAE to visit my family now. I cannot take 3-4 weeks of full-time work leave. I hope that if the UAE is not on the list, I will quickly visit Dubai and contact me. Meet the family.”
Richard Jewbury, vice president of Emirates Airline, also expressed his dissatisfaction with this decision in an interview with UK PA Media. “The data from the UAE is very good,” he said, adding that Britain’s decision to keep the UAE on the red list was “disheartening.”
In the second half of January this year, when the number of positive Covid cases in the UAE hovered above 3,000 per day, the United Kingdom has included the UAE on the list of red countries. Travelers from red-listed countries are required to undergo a 10-day quarantine.
Since then, the situation has improved significantly. Today, approximately 70% of the UAE’s population has been fully vaccinated, and the number of new cases per day has been reduced by more than half since the beginning of this year. According to data from the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as of the week of July 22, the weekly coronavirus case rate per 100,000 people in the UAE was 124, compared with 417 in the UK.
“It’s overwhelming and stressful. I believe many people feel the same way,” said Nisha Mohamed, a science teacher who has lived in the UAE for six years. Nisha flew out of Dubai at the beginning of the summer vacation in July. She spent 11 days in Crete, Greece, and then boarded a flight to London to visit her family in the UK. “I plan to return on August 12, which hopefully will give me enough time to isolate and resume work at the beginning of the next class on August 29,” said Nisha, who is fully vaccinated.
“I made sure that it (my vaccination) was completed before the summer vacation, but I was disappointed that it was not recognized because it was not carried out under the NHS.”
The UAE has always been a popular leisure and business destination in the UK. Before Covid, the UAE-UK air travel corridor was one of the busiest corridors in the world. An estimated 120,000 Britons call the UAE their second hometown, and the decision of the British government to include the UAE on the Red List has severely affected their travel plans.
“During the children’s summer and winter vacations, I went to the UK at least twice a year. But in the past two years, we have been unable to do this. I miss home very much. We often go to nearby areas for vacation, but the situation is different. I am eager to see my family,” said Poppy F., who has lived in Dubai for more than ten years.
suneeti@khaleejtimes.com
Suniti Ahuja Koli
Suneeti Ahuja-Kohli has been in Dubai long enough to call it her spiritual home. She likes to travel, but plans to settle down on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand and eventually spend her sunset years by the sea. Currently, she frequently writes articles about personal finance, retirement planning, business news and features, health, and almost everything specified by her editor. Her stay can be followed on Instagram (suneetiahujakohli), Twitter @suneetiahuja, news and opinions, and the rest, she also has a Facebook account.
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