KOZHIKODE: The extension of the ban on international flights to Gulf countries till June 30 has come as a major blow to tens of thousands of expatriates in the state who have been hoping to return to their places of work at the earliest.
Earlier, the Central government had banned commercial flights till June 14. The decision, taken in view of the rising Covid cases in the country, comes at a time when the expatriate community is demanding that the ban on flights to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait be lifted.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had on May 28 announced that international passenger flights will not restart operations until June 30. At the same time, the restriction was not applied to international all-cargo flights, and flights scheduled under the travel bubble arrangements. Since March 2020, there has been a ban on regular international flights. According to experts, though over 14 lakh expatriates had reached the state since March last year, some, mainly healthcare workers, had returned. Though the Saudi government had extended visas and duration by up to six months during the first wave of the pandemic last year, it has not announced any such relaxation this time. The situation in other countries is no different.
According to the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC), while over eight lakh expatriates from Kerala are waiting to return to the UAE, nearly two lakh Malayalis are awaiting return to Saudi Arabia, 1.5 lakh to Qatar, 1.25 lakh to Oman and over 50,000 to other countries. Ibrahim Murichandi, state vice-president of Dubai KMCC, said, “Several Gulf countries were willing to ply special flights in the previous wave due to pressure from various organisations.” According to him, the expatriates were initially worried about not receiving the vaccine on time. “The state government has addressed this issue by prioritising people who work and study abroad for the vaccine jabs. But the decision to extend the ban has affected people’s plans further,” he said.
Norka Roots CEO Harikrishnan Namboothiri told TNIE, “Soon after the decision to extend the flight ban to Jun 30 was received, Norka Roots have contacted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to rethink the further extension as several lakhs of expats currently in Kerala are waiting to return back to their work place. Last year, when a similar flight ban was imposed, a few countries tried to take the healthcare workers from India to their respective countries. This time, even that is not happening.” He said more than 1.4 lakh expatriates were given Rs 5,000 each to support them financially during the previous lockdown.
“Additionally, more than Rs 75 crore was distributed among the general expats. Loan assistance was even provided to the expats coming back. The surge of expats seen here last year has tripled during the second wave. Hence, we are doing our best to help them return to their work place,” he said.