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As vaccinated residents began to fly to the UAE, many people abandoned their plans to travel to the UAE through other countries
On July 2, when Sunitha Suresh Babu returned to her hometown in Kerala from a short vacation from the UAE, she only paid AED 750 for airfare.
During the flight suspension that began on April 24, the psychology teacher from Al Ain Oasis International School and several other teachers from the school decided to return to the UAE to catch up with the new term of the staff.
“But there are no direct flights. The travel agency told us to travel through Armenia,” she told Khaleej Times on Thursday. “The air ticket costs about AED 2,500, and we must also arrange a visa for Armenia.” However, the flight was full, and she and her colleagues were told to pass through Qatar after paying AED 7,500 (including air ticket and quarantine package). travel.
“I have no funds, I have to use my gold jewelry loan,” Sunitha said. She also wrote to Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala, and S. Jaishankar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of India. She was told that the Indian government is keeping in touch with UAE officials and the matter will be resolved soon.
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After announcing that the flight to the UAE will start on Thursday (August 5), Sunitha and her colleagues breathed a sigh of relief. All teachers from Al Ain were vaccinated in the UAE, so they checked all the boxes.
Dr. Vini Devayani, who teaches Malayalam at the school, traveled from her home in Palakkad (approximately 100 kilometers) to Kochi International Airport on Wednesday for a flight to Qatar. However, when she was at the airport, the travel agency called her and told her to go home because if she traveled through Doha, she would have to undergo a 14-day quarantine before heading to the UAE.
She eagerly waited for the travel agency to notify her of the flight to Abu Dhabi, hoping that this would happen within a day or two.
“In early July, about 75 teachers from our school came to Kerala for vacation in three groups,” Dewayani said. “At the beginning of this year, all of us were vaccinated in Al Ain.”
KV Abdul Khader is a former member of the Kerala State Assembly and the general secretary of Pravasi Sangam of Kerala, which represents overseas Indians in the state. He said that many non-resident Indians (NRI) have been spending huge sums of money to buy through. Tickets for Asia. Country of arrival in the UAE. In some cases, they have to pay between 10,000 and 15,000 dirhams to travel to the UAE through other countries.
“There are 300,000 NRIs in Kerala waiting to return to the UAE,” he said. “About 10,000 of them were vaccinated in the UAE, but others will have to wait for further clarification. We have discussed this issue with Chief Minister and Minister of Health Veena George and have been informed that the state government is in contact with the federal government,”
Rajya Sabha Member MV Shreyams Kumar of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament met with Jaishankar on Wednesday and urged him to resolve the problems facing the NRI when he returns to the Gulf countries. Kumar said the UAE has assured India that all measures will be taken to ensure that NRI returns from Kerala and other parts of the country.
He believes that because Indian officials closely coordinate with their counterparts in other countries, thousands of NRIs waiting for approval to return to the UAE and other countries will not have to wait too long.
Nissin Belle
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